You’ve done all you could to prepare your child for college. You’ve set rules, stated guidelines and communicated your expectations. You’ve done your best; you’ve covered all the bases. Or have you?
Identifying Misconceptions
When it comes to sending their child off to college, many parents make the all too common mistake of assuming that their child will be covered under their health policy—and that their coverages and benefits will be the same while they’re away at college.
Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. Many insurers still cover dependents until age 23, but many are terminating dependent coverage sooner—some as young as age 18. Furthermore, college students that attend school out-of-state may not receive all their benefits or may be charged additional fees for seeing physicians out of the insurer’s network.
So what’s a parent to do?
The Good News
Fortunately, if a student isn’t fully covered on a parent’s health insurance plan, there are affordable alternatives.
Generally speaking, college students and their parents tend to seek health plans from one of three places: the student’s college, a private health insurer or other student organizations.
The majority of colleges and universities now offer student health insurance for their attendants, which often consist of two or three policy options. While traditionally less expensive, the costs and coverages of university-sponsored health plans tend to be more fixed, which may not meet needs of students with pre-existing conditions.
Surprisingly, private health insurance for students is fairly inexpensive. Private health insurance is an especially attractive option for parents and students because it typically covers a wider range of benefits. Your chances of snagging discounts are also greater if you buy a student policy from a private insurer.
Other student health plans are available through student-help organizations like the American College Student Association (ACSA). Organizations like ACSA specialize in short-term health insurance and study abroad coverage, which is especially appealing to students wishing to travel.
Tips to Remember
Making sure the student in your life has adequate health insurance is important. As you ask questions and shop for health plans, consider the following tips:
Know the student’s needs. Does the student have allergies? A need for travel vaccines? Knowing what your student needs ahead of time will help narrow your policy options.
Know how long the student needs the coverage. Many insurers allow you to purchase policies that last anywhere from three months to a year—determine how long the student will need the policy to avoid paying for extra coverage.
Compare multiple policies. More health insurance options mean more options to save. Don’t forget to compare policy benefits, deductibles and limitations while searching for cheap health insurance.
Don’t skimp on major medical. Before buying a student health policy, make sure it covers major medical expenses. The cheapest policy in the world won’t save you money if it doesn’t cover major medical expenses!
Lessons Learned
Whether you’re a student yourself, or a parent seeking health insurance for a student, it’s important to understand that health insurance is an important part of staying healthy in college. Use the tips above to help you find the best—and the cheapest—student health insurance policy!
By: Megan Mahan
Posts Tagged ‘Dependents’
Health Insurance Over 50 And Under 65
January 29th, 2010
If you are between the ages of 50 and 65 and you are going to be looking for health insurance or are looking for health insurance you need some help. This is a tough age (of course what age isn’t starting with the terrible twos) because you are at a prime age to start developing health problems. Statistically speaking and statistics is the only language insurance companies speak, the insurance company can predict they are going to spend more on 50-65 year old than a 20-45 year old. For that reason premiums are much higher for the older person.
But, we Baby Boomers are a smart group and where there is a will, there is a way. So let’s look at some of the options:
If you currently have a job and are looking to retire or start your own business, you have a couple of avenues you can investigate. First you can inquire if your company will let you buy health insurance through the company plan. If your company will let you do this your employer (assuming we are talking early retirement) may subsidize part of your premiums. If not, you still get group rates which are a whole lot cheaper than individual rates. If you are married and your spouse is still working strongly consider adding yourself to his/her plan if that option is available to you.
The next option (if you currently have a job which provides health insurance) is COBRA or Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act. COBRA lets former employees and their dependents continue their employer’s group coverage for up to 18 months. The best thing about COBRA is it is guaranteed. Your former employer’s insurer can’t turn you down even if you have a chronic medical condition. The worst thing about COBRA is the cost. Your employer generally covers 70% or more of your health insurance premium. With COBRA you have to pay the whole premium plus administrative costs. Industry surveys indicate based on an average premium (for 2007), a former employee would have to pay more than $373 a month for individual coverage and more than $1,008 a month for family coverage.
If you are not currently employed by a company who provides health insurance there are still choices for you. If you have pre-existing conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure you can receive coverage through a state high-risk health program designed to help those with medical conditions that prevent them from getting insurance. Again though like COBRA the premiums can be quite high.
You can also check out professional organizations you could join or are already affiliated with to see if they offer health insurance policies for members. Because these are group plans, the premiums may be less than what you would pay in the individual market.
Finally, there is the individual health insurance option. There has been some progress in terms of offerings of policies for the 50-65 year age group market mainly because insurers see this age group as a potential growth market. Many Baby Boomers are in good health and have higher income than younger people. Also insurance companies hope that retirees will still purchase their products, such as supplemental insurance, even after they’re eligible for Medicare. Some of policies currently offered may have premiums as low as $200 per month for people who are in good health and willing to pay a high deductible. Many insurance advice columnists recommend combining a high deductible individual health insurance policy with a health savings account. HSA contributions are made with pretax dollars, and any money left over in the account at the end of the year is rolled over for future use. Withdrawals are not taxed if used for qualified medical expenses.
By: Marilyn Katz
Low Cost to Low Income Health Insurance
January 4th, 2010
Health insurance rates rise and the value of the dollars tends to drop. In times like these we must know how to stretch a buck. This goes especially for families with a tight budget and many children. When searching for health insurance first thing you should do is see if there are any good programs available to you in your state. In your favorite search engine search for the following: (your state) health insurance site:.gov for example searching for: Nevada health insurance site:.gov will give you all the Nevada Government Health Insurance benefits available. From what I’ve seen most of these health insurance benefits are focused on dependents up to 19 years of age. You will be amazed as to how much you can save if you qualify to be enrolled into a Government assisted health insurance program. During my early twenties I had my family enrolled in DES health care assistance. One day I had to take my daughter to urgent care for a fever. The urgent care copay was one dollar. The medicine for my daughter was free. To be accepted into most of these programs you must fit the income requirements.
If you make too much you’ll have to do the next best thing which is compare rates and coverages between providers. If you don’t want to fool around with the whole search engine strategy you may want to visit a site that provides comparison quotes with the convenience of only having to fill out a single form. Once you do compare rates and coverages the goal is to find a coverage with a low deductible, low copays for office visits and affordable premiums. Good luck with your search.
By: Cole Sileven
