My daughter is a grad level student at Stanford where she purchased student health insurance. Now she is home with us indefinitely over 1000 miles away where she will attend remotely for spring quarter. She suddenly tells me that the insurance network is Stanford and other CA providers. My husband and I are now on Medicare with supplements so I don’t have an agent anymore like I did pre-65. I am not sure where to start but I feel like she needs coverage that works here right away. Have any of you dealt with this after your child’s school went remote? What did you do?
Most student plans include out of state benefits, sometimes through a national network. I believe Stanford uses first health, and the costs will be a bit higher but she’ll be insured through that national network. Check her plan benefits or call the school to double check. I’m basing that on a neighbor who has the undergrad plan, which might be different.
Additionally, most states that operate their own ACA exchanges have opened enrollment because of Covid 19. You can see a map of which states these are here:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/upshot/coronavirus-obamacare-marketplaces-reopen.html
But even for the federal ACA exchange, a change of residence would generally allow for enrollment outside of the annual enrollment period. If your daughter is no with you “indefinitely” that certainly sounds like it would qualify.
Also, many insurers are allowing telehealth benefits due to the lockdowns, so IF your D needs to consult with a provider, she may be able to consult with one in CA/Stanford or wherever.
Have her call her insurer to see what they suggest during this lockdown period, where nearly all campuses are closed.
I used to run our student health insurance program, and we used First Health. There was nationwide coverage in the PPO network. You can find a provider search tool on the student insurance website.