Ds1 has called and has to make a decision TODAY about his employer health insurance. Thanks for waiting until the last possible moment, kid.
When he started this job this summer, we all decided that it would be easier to just keep him on ours as it doesn’t cost us any more. His employer has a free, high-deductible option and will kick in $600/year to a health savings account that rolls over and, eventually, could be used for other non-health expenses, though he would have to pay taxes if used on something other than health care. That is a new one on me.
My question: This year, we have retained him on our insurance, again, because it costs us nothing, but we really wanted him to get his own so on general principle. If he takes his own insurance, is there a way to make our insurance his primary as the coverage is better? He’s really healthy, but he plays a club sport so there’s always the risk of injury. His senior year in college, for instance, he had an X-ray for a possible stress fracture. That’s what’s giving him pause; he doesn’t want to be out of pocket tons of money if he has to make an ER visit.
If they are both free, take both. Just because his will be primary doesn’t mean he is out of pocket. I beleive it just complicates it a little. He will give both insurance info to the provider. They will bill the primary ins, when it is denied due to deductible (which it will still count towards), they will submit it to your insurance who will treat it normally. I don’t think you can elect yours as primary.
Thanks. He’s driving me nuts with the calls. I told him to see how the networks overlap. At this point I think he should stay on ours, just so he’ll quit calling me.
Make sure yours allows him to remain if he has other insurance; many employer-based plans will not insure someone (not just adult children, so it doesn’t violate the law) if they are insured elsewhere.
Thank you for this thread. We are in a similar situation. Your post made me open my son’s 2016 Benefit Enrollment package that sits unopened for the last 2 weeks and I see that he also has an HSA option where employer adds $500/year. His medical coverage is not free. I am wondering if it is possible to sign up for HSA only without applying for medical coverage. That would be the best option.
Also, he was told that you can’t just get the HSA without enrolling for the free insurance. That’s the rub for him. He is cheap, and I’ve told him that we expect him to start paying for his co-pays, contacts, etc. if he’s going to have to do that, he figures he’ll do his free insurance so he gets the free $500 plus the tax break on anything else he adds to it. But he wants to stay with our docs, which might not be possible.
If he uses his insurance he will have to deal with deductible himself. Our son pays his copays himself but it mostly happens after his family eliminates his deductible.
Under the Affordable Care Act, if your plan covers children, you can now add or keep your children on your health insurance policy until they turn 26 years old.
What This Means for You
Before the health care law, insurance companies could remove enrolled children usually at age 19, sometimes older for full-time students. Now, most health plans that cover children must make coverage available to children up to age 26. By allowing children to stay on a parent’s plan, the law makes it easier and more affordable for young adults to get health insurance coverage.
Children can join or remain on a parent’s plan even if they are:
Married
Not living with their parents
Attending school
Not financially dependent on their parents
Eligible to enroll in their employer’s plan
When Someone Turns 26
Under-26 coverage ends on a child’s 26th birthday. When a child loses coverage on their 26th birthday, they qualify for a Special Enrollment Period. This lets them enroll in a health plan outside Open Enrollment.
Learn more about Young Adult Coverage and how someone can get covered when they turn 26 years old.
My spouse’s employer will actually cover children through the end of the year in which they turn 26, so no messing around with a special enrollment period.
We gave our S the option and he chose to stay on our insurance which was the same premium for us. He stayed on our plan until he aged out at 26, even tho his employer would have paid 2/3 of the cost of a great plan for him. When he turned 26, he enrolled in his own plan that still allows him to see our dentist and not sure about the other healthcare providers. He claims he has MDs that he sees in VA, but I have my doubtssssssssss.
We talked to our insurer and they said there was actually no benefit of himi having two plans, which he COULD have had. They said that unless he had a lot of medical expenses, it wasn’t worth it to him to pay premiums on a 2nd insurance, so we didn’t bother hassling him about it. He’s not taking any meds and only sses the dentist when he visits for the holidays. He sometimes sees the optometrist as well.
A high deductible plan isn’t that great, IMHO, as it serves as a disincentive to seek care–the patient knows they will have to pay for all of it out of their own pocket, so that $500 will go fast and then he will have to pay 100% of his care for the next $$$$ until the total deductible is met.
@Youdon’tsay - our sons are cut from the same cloth. At 10pm on Sept. 29th I got a call from S asking “Mom, Can you help me sort my benefits elections? I’m at the end of my 90 day probation period and HR sent me the forms.”
Me: “Sure, S. When are they due?”
S: “Tomorrow at 9am.”
Grrrrrrr…I was on my way to bed but stayed up and extra hour and a half helping S understand and then choose an option. Sounds similar to your S - he chose the free plan with the HSA. His employer starts them out with a $1000 contribution to the HSA. We discussed keeping him on our insurance but in order to have the HSA, his must be the primary.
Only slightly in his defense, he has been traveling a lot and been out of the office much of the past six weeks. Still!
I called him and told him that it’s really OK for him to stay on our insurance if that’s what he wants. The cute optometrist he likes is on both plans. He hardly ever goes to the dentist or the doctor.
I explained that the no. 1 reason I want him to get his own insurance is just a further cutting of the cord. I know that’s the baggage I bring to this. For instance, his employer gives him $50/month toward a phone. He never even had a smart phone before this job – I told you he was cheap. But to add the smart phone on our bill was just $25/month so we’re letting him stay on our bill, he pays us, and he pockets the extra $25. Yes, he comes by his cheapness honestly. It seems silly for him to get his own phone bill and pay tons more.
Along those lines, he still doesn’t have his own credit card. He couldn’t qualify last year when he was doing AmeriCorps, and his current job gives him a company credit card. In an emergency, he has one of ours. But I told him that NOW IS THE TIME to get one of his own because if he goes to grad school in a year or two, he’ll be in the same situation of not making enough to qualify. I raised that issue today when talking about the insurance.
I really never thought I’d still be doing this much parenting for a 23yo.
Our 25 year old son will stay on our insurance as long as possible. He makes over 100K, is doing fine financially, and his company offers health insurance. They reimburse him $200-$300 per month for not taking their insurance.
However, we all agree that he should stay on our insurance, as it costs us nothing, and it is incredibly good insurance. Unlikely he will ever have as good a plan, and we want the best medical care for him possible, if he needs it. Screw cutting the cord, there is no greater principle involved.
My head could explode over this today…lol. our policy is up for renewal so I picked two options and then had to figure out everyone’s rate per paycheck. I cover 80%, they cover 20%, but we pay biweekly not bimonthly so it’s just a little math. I miss the days of one rate. Now everyone pays based on their age.
I have quite a few younguns and the questions from them and their parents is killing me. I can’t/won’t tell them what to do. Here are the two plans, here is the cost, make a decision.
Our S never got a dime for declining his insurance until he aged off our plan, but we were fine with that. He makes a very good salary and helps his sis get plane tickets to come home. He pays most of his own expenses and our family phone plan–100% because his Wells Fargo CCard adds phone protection as long as you pay with their card. We reimbursed him for some months, but he’s paid more than we reimbursed him.
To me, it never made sense to remove our kids from our excellent plan until they aged out. We have great docs and coverage. They’d see the docs when they visited for vacations.
We never were concerned that having S on our plan was “not cutting the cord” and not concerned that a family plan isn’t cutting a cord.
Good medical care is incredibly important. If you can get that for your kid for free, I think you should go for it. Tell him to do some yard work when he comes home to visit, or if you could use the money, perhaps he could reimburse you some of what you’re paying for the family coverage.
Like I said, the cutting the cord part is my baggage. But it’s so pragmatic – and cheaper – to just keep doing it like we’re doing it that that’s the way it will continue.
You never know what can happen and medical care is ghastly expensive if you dont have great insurance. I would stick with the better plan. High deductible plans where you have to pay for everything before you meet the threshhold are really only catastrophic plans.
We, too, got that last-minute phone call. #1D is staying on H’s plan. It is cheaper and has better coverage than what her new employer offers.
I didn’t care to “make a point” about being a self-supporting adult when we can do something for little cost that will free up more of her income for rent, food, and student loan payments.
It seems silly for him to get his own phone bill and pay tons more.