S has been working for the past few years, but it’s worked out easier for us to keep him on our health insurance. Well, all that comes to an end later this spring when he turns 26.
He has to find an alternative. Complicating this a bit is the fact that he might be quitting work to go back to school in the fall. He’s not sure, but if he decides to go to school, he might quit a little early and spend the summer in Europe.
Would he be eligible for COBRA? Or does he need to get insurance on the marketplace? If he continued to work until the fall, I would think the best option would be to switch to his employer’s insurance and then switch to health insurance provided by the university in fall. The potential summer off plans messes with that option…
I think you’d need to check with your insurance reps to see if COBRA is an option and for how long. If available, it will likely be pricey. When we had a kid considering a gap year in 2007, the COBRA for her was going to be $430/month. I assume it would be much higher now.
My daughter just aged out of my health insurance on Monday. She was on my health insurance through my employer.
She is permitted to do COBRA for 3 years, but she isn’t. It would have cost $1000 a month. She began grad school in September and took the school’s insurance (it’s under $2000 for the year).
Your son can transfer to his employer’s insurance and then do COBRA (COBRA is a federal law but I would inquire) or he can purchase the school’s insurance which will likely be cheaper than COBRA.
If he’s healthy and not making much or any income as a grad student, he might consider Medicaid. It will be something he’s unlikely to use, but protective in the event of an unforeseen malady or trauma. Our son actually did that during his masters.
Our kid was moving for professional school when she aged out of our policy. So…she got a plan on the exchange just before she left. Then once she established residency in her new state, she got a new plan on the exchange in that state. Then in January that followed, she got yet a third plan because the plan she got was discontinued🤦🏻♀️
But she had coverage and that’s what mattered.
It sounds like your son’s need for coverage will be short term because he will be going to grad school where he will get coverage. I’d just go for a policy on the exchange.
Also need to take into account your state and whether a short term (emergency only) plan is an option. We found that to be a good choice for D after college, when she was in the process of moving states. Her plan was only $400 for 6 months with a low deductible ($500). It does require medical qualification (no ongoing health conditions) and is only allowed in certain states. But it’s good to bridge a few months if you are moving, especially as deductibles can be much lower than exchange policies if you qualify.
We used United Healthcare (which had also been the provider of her college plan). Once she had residency in her new state she switched to Medicaid (because her income is too low for an exchange policy).
You have 60 days to elect to have cobra. I think the coverage starts from the time you leave the company. I know some people take the chance of not electing cobra unless it’s needed.
I would look into if travel insurance would cover medical issues.
OP, you probably know this, but I have to post it because my kid didn’t listen to multiple warnings and was without health insurance for some period of time- there’s a limited amount of time once kid turns 26 that they can get on the employers plan. I believe it’s @30 days after birthday, but it may be something different.
My daughter has a spring birthday and aged out of my insurance as of 1/1/24. She was permitted to stay on my insurance through the end of the year in which she turned 26 (turned 26 in 2023).
I would call your insurance company and ask if your son ages out on his actual birthday or if he is eligible through 12/31/24.
When our S aged off H’s family plan, we tried to get insurance by filling out online forms but he was rejected because he had mild, well controlled intermittent asthma.
We happened to go to my BCBS and while there we asked if they had anything so he could be covered for a few months. They had an individual plan and offered it on a monthly basis because he had always been covered by BCBS. We paid the monthly premium for Aug thru Dec, until ACA kicked in on 1/1 and he was again covered under the family plan. It was several hundred/month but I had peace of mind because I knew he was covered, “just in case.”
Alumni associations MAY offer insurance coverage plans. If one will travel internationally, they may need to acquire international medical travel insurance, as some policies do not cover international travel.
Current employer’s HR would have info about cobra—how many months are possible to purchase and the price/month. My S purchased cobra for many months after he quit his job, until after his marriage he was covered by DIL’s employee plan.
About 10 years ago I heard about some self-employed people that would take 6 college credits at a time, with the extra perk of the low cost student health insurance. Not sure if that strategy still makes sense with ACA options.
Medicaid is a state program and one needs to qualify under the state rules. There are still some states that did not expand medicaid so adults may not be included. 13M people were just dropped from medicaid because the federal program that extended benefits because of covid expired, with very little notice. Some states have income requirements so low that earning minimum wage can make you ineligible. I think in Colorado the single person max income is about $14k to qualify, and with minimum wage in Denver @$18.29 as of Monday, 40 hours per week would be $38k; even 20 hours/wk is $19k. There were articles last week about the millions (3 or 4M) of Texans who were just dropped from medicaid.
Options? ACA programs in the state of residence
Cobra if the parents’ plan is covered (can be $500-$1000/mo)
Employer’s (child’s) plan
Just before Christmas I got some ads on FB about programs with enrollment dates of 12/15 or 1/15, but usually you can enroll in those plans if there is a change in your coverage. One was healthcare.gov
Thanks for the feedback. I have asked him to start looking at options, but figured I should also do some initial research. Knowing S, he won’t get to this until the very last minute
My insurance hasn’t changed much over the years - when D aged out 5 years ago, she was allowed to stay on the plan until the end of the month of her birthday. So not much wiggle room.
“End of the month” is very common for most company plans. So if someone’s last day at work is May 2, the company insurance is usually in effect until May 31…so if OP’s son elects COBRA, he won’t have to pay for the “first month”…
