<p>I was quite shocked to discover recently that my kids’ health insurance terminates at their graduation from college–on the day of graduation. Yes, they could roll it over into their own policies–for about $400/month! However, I was able to find a catastrophic policy–$2500/year deductible–for only $67/month (Blue Shield).</p>
<p>It has since occurred to me that other parents may not realize that their kids’ health insurance is at such immediate risk–hence the posting.</p>
<p>We are struggling with this, too. I just realized about a month ago that our kids’ insurance coverage ends at age 22 (although they don’t have to be full time students). My older S turns 22 the summer after he graduates from college. We don’t know whether he will be employed, with a group health plan, or whether he’ll be in grad or law school. So I’ve been researching health plans, too. One good resource is <a href=“http://www.ehealthinsurance.com%5B/url%5D”>www.ehealthinsurance.com</a>. I’m also looking at the Blue Cross plans.</p>
<p>I really was taken by surprise because I always thought that my kids were covered until age 25 if they were fulltime students. But apparently that changed when we dropped my husband’s group policy and signed on with the one offered by my job.</p>
<p>Yup, the harsh realities of life. 
Some policies offer coverage until the student is 23 so long as they remain a full-time student. So, do that back-packing trek in your Junior year, cause baby, it ain’t happening after graduation.</p>
<p>Be careful about the short-tern policy you purchase. There is a reason that they are so cheap. They usually do not cover pre-existing conditions, (like Diabetes), and then when the student does find employment where health coverage is offered, that pre-existing condition may not be able to be covered if there was not continuous coverage for 18 prior months.</p>
<p>Yep. D’s coverage ended on the last day of the month in which she graduated. Well, she graduated on the 28th, so she was covered until the 31st. We were offered coverage for her under something called “Dependents to Age 30”, where she could enroll for the same coverage she had under our family plan, but had to bear the total cost - in this case over $550/month. The coverage is decent and includes prescription drug, but boy, that’s a lot. We just don’t want to take the chance of going without it.</p>
<p>For law school students I know the ABA offers some kind of health care coverage. <a href=“http://www.abanet.org/lsd/insurance.html[/url]”>http://www.abanet.org/lsd/insurance.html</a>
And a lot of universities offer it for grad students (usually through the state board of regents or higher education commission).</p>
<p>Thanks for the reminder. This is something we really need to be on top of, and policies vary so one person’s experience may not be relevant to others.</p>
<p>The only good news in all this: health insurance is still cheaper than tuition (for most).</p>
<p>dmd77, Our family has the Blue Cross Catastrophic plan you mentioned. It has worked well for us. Even though the deductible is $2500, the company tells you to always have the healthcare provider to file the cost of a visit with the insurance company first (before you pay them anything out of pocket). We have found that Blue Cross apparantly negotiates rates for their customers. Our final bill from the Dr.'s office has almost always been less than the advertised office visit price.</p>
<p>Move to Jersey! The state enacted a law that last year that mandates all children under the age of 30 can remain covered by their parents’ health insurance policy. The restrictions are that the children must reside in NJ, although they do not have to live at their parents’ home, and they cannot have dependents of their own.</p>
<p>Am quite grateful, because my oldest graduates from college next year…</p>
<p>Packmom, thanks for letting me know about the negotiation. We have “interesting” health insurance for us–high deductible, we pay the bills and then they reimburse us, but hey, they’ve never NOT reimbursed us, so that’s good, considering my husband’s cancer–BUT it has meant that I’m used to doing my own negotiation. It amazes me how much doctors are willing to take off if they don’t have to deal with the insurance.</p>
<p>For the rest of you: our insurance says they are covered “as long as they are full-time students.” I assumed that gave them some leeway after the graduated. But no… Incidentally, the wording of the policy also meant that they couldn’t take more than one semester off! My son has found a job, but his health insurance won’t start right away–and my daughter has been looking, but again, no health insurance right away. Hence the search for an affordable catastrophic policy.</p>
<p>I was stunned recently to read that treating the average appendicitis case now costs more than $15000.</p>
<p>Our deductible is $8000 :eek:
A couple of ideas for new graduates:</p>
<p>Check the college’s Alumni website, they frequently have links</p>
<p>Check your state’s low income options, some states (WA) offer a low income subsidized plan based on a sliding scale income. If your kiddo is independent they may qualify and pay around $20-$50/mo for “decent” coverage. we are still researching options and trying to determine how that coverage works in reality vs the nice things it says on the website!</p>
<p>flatlander ~ yes, that is the program my D is under here in NJ. However, she now has to pay the premium for herself, which is the $550+/month. At least this is how it works through my husband’s employer. I don’t know if other employers are more generous in paying for the “under 30’s” coverage. And if she does it through this program, she can’t opt for the less expensive HMO coverage - it has to be the same coverage we have as a family.</p>
<p>My sister in law works in the New Jersey state government agency that handles the program for “under 30” (although she herself does not work on that project). She told me that it was so expensive that they anticipated that only a limited number of people in special situations would take advantage of it.</p>
<p>Living in NJ isn’t quite enough. You also must work in NJ. My last job was in NY and the health insurance policy is NY so the NJ law does not help us.</p>
<p>We went through the same scenario last year, and now that we’re looking back on it, we may have made a few mistakes along the way. When first kid started college, we signed him up for the school health plan, and during that time spouse was able to get full health benefits at his place of employment - so that would have been the time to switch our student over to that plan. But, no - he stayed on the school plan, and then when he graduated, we had to find a new plan for him to be on. Since he has a pre-existing condition,(which we didn’t realize would be an issue), he had to take a less desirable health plan with the highest premium for one year with the hope that he can be upgraded to a better plan at that time. If we had to do it over, we should have switched him to the plan through work instead of school, although we would have had to pay in order to continue the coverage post-graduation.</p>
<p>The university offered a low cost health insurance to the graduating seniors which we bought for 6 months.</p>
<p>FYI: Kids with chronic condition: beware of applying for insurance with certain chronic conditions that automatically disqualify…later if you apply somewhere else they like to ask if you have ever been disqualified-which DQ’s you again.</p>
<p>One of the many reasons I’m happy that we’re back in Ontario.</p>
<p>As an aside- s’s hospital bill came inthe mail today (they submitted it to insu, but we got a copy). Thisis jsut the 5 day hospital bill-- not the ER bill fromthe first hosioptal, not the ambulance cost, not any of the drs bills for their services-- just the hospital bill. $40,500. The topic of this thread is important-- .</p>
<p>Please make sure to check with your state’s insurance commissioner’s office for a list of approved carriers. I’m in the business in WA and every state has different rules and regs for insurance. DO NOT BUY ANY INSURANCE THAT ISN’T APPROVED BY YOUR STATE!!! </p>
<p>Why? if you have a problem or a failure (happens alot) of a carrier, you have no recourse or state protection. You can have a bargin policy from fly by night insurance, get sick, get treated and get stuck with the bill. In some states you can form an insurance company with $500 bucks and mail across the country… it happens alot. </p>
<p>Please don’t guess about coverage or portability as each state has different rules as each contract does as well. For example in WA we have portability, but it is conditional portability. You can still be subject to pre ex depending on how the new coverage compares to the old coverage. EXAM: going from a policy that has no maternity, to one that has coverage because your pregnant. They can exclude the prenancy as pre ex because you didn’t carry it prior. </p>
<p>For your own safety as consumers, contact your state offices. They should be very willing to help. They cannot reccomment one carrier but they can and should point you to a list of approved carriers. You can even find out how many complaints listed. </p>
<p>Usually the blues are a safe bet. They may not be the cheapest, but usually they are strong enough to pay claims.</p>
<p>Remember insurance is only a bargin if it pays when you need it to.</p>
<p>Thanks for reminder-
I have been nagging my daughter to investigate local options and have been worried that she isn’t being seen regulary, and was unsure how much to let her handle and how much to “help” with.
My own upbringing wasn’t a clue, because my mother pretty much cut me loose when I was 17 ( and I was glad to go), I knew I didn’t want to go that route, but I didn’t want to do too much either.</p>
<p>I didn’t even realize something like catastrophic insurance was available, it sounds like a plan.</p>
<p>I guess that’s another reason to go straight on to grad school - health insurance coverage! My hubby’s insurance (blue cross) covers dependent kids up to age 25. Let’s see - when I was 25, I was married and a mother. I certainly didn’t feel like my parents should be supporting me! :)</p>