My graduating senior is recovering from post Covid myocarditis that landed him in hospital earlier this year. He is recovering well and really doesn’t want to take a gap year but we are really scared of sending him so far away from home while his recovery is not complete. Would love to hear your experiences, advice, on how to navigate this situation.
What treatments/monitoring will he need?
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Will he need specialized medical care that would be difficult to get at the college or nearby areas, or would be prohibitively expensive due to providers at or near the college being out-of-network for your insurance plan that you will keep him on (does the college have a student medical insurance plan with a good network of providers local to the college?)?
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He will need blood tests and echo to monitor his recovery and if he falls sick from viral, he has to be monitored for possible inflammation to heart. He has to avoid strenous activities. We don’t live in the US so he will need student insurance and I don’t know if these expenses will be covered. It’s not a permanent condition but he is in the middle of recovery.
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Each college will have different policies. You will want to review those and read the fine print about preexisting conditions, hospitalization, etc…
You may want to look into other policies in addition to the ones offered by the colleges for more comprehensive coverage.
We scheduled some monitoring during times our child would be home and we were able to have labs done near college with results sent to her home based doctor.
I did fly up once to monitor and ensure proper care and having the funds budgeted for that was part of what we knew we could possibly need to deal with. Teaching them to advocate for themselves and to monitor for symptoms is important. There are some basic heart monitors that can hook up to their phones that can help with some basic monitoring, too. They adapt and are resilient, and honestly I think it can be harder as a parent to try to support them from afar.
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Keep in mind that his chance of getting a cold /virus will be greater if in a dorm type situation. I don’t think getting the blood tests and echo are a big deal but make sure if the college has a hospital near by or is part of the University. Also will he be in a state that will treat him properly post covid. Yes, this can be a political statement BUT there are states that don’t really believe covid was a thing. Make sure the hospitals in the area do and that they are educated enough to treat his symptoms. Unfortunately I would not assume.
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Since the student is a graduating senior who does not want a gap year, this means that the student has presumably matriculated to a college. This means that you can look up for the specific college what medical care is available on campus or nearby, what student (or other, e.g. Medicaid or ACA) medical insurance plan is available and what is covered, etc…
If you are currently outside the US, note that medical care and insurance can be extremely expensive in the US compared to other countries.
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Assuming he purchases health insurance through the school…I think he should 1) connect with a PCP in the college system or, if not available in a college health system, in the community 2) have that PCP refer him to a cardiologist for monitoring 3) register for the Office of Disabilities or Accessible Education Office or whatever the school calls it, in order to receive any accommodations that might be needed for fatigue or other challenges (extended time for papers, reduced courseload etc. ) . Is a single room helpful? and 4) you should purchase tuition refund insurance.
I had a kid with serious health issues- which are lifelong, not temporary, but moslty respond to treatment- who also went to freshman year without full recovery. They did take a medical leave second semester and another in third year. Then had reduced courseload and finished. The college extended aid for the semesters that went beyond 4 years.
Not the same situation … just saying it is workable, but get the supports in place and cover all the “just in case” scenarios.
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Don’t send him. Kids are usually not acutely sensitive to their own evolving situation, and they tend to brush away any concerns that may crop up. I had a cousin that had a congenital heart problem, that passed away at college due to stressors. Different heart problem of course. But if he needs attention now, he needs attention. Health is more important. You can send for next year to the same school. Nobody else will take care of your son like you can.
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Yikes! We absolutely do not have enough information to make any definitive kind of statement!
Another factor not mentioned is the kid himself. How seriously does he take this issue, how responsible is he etc.
Ypu can also call the health center and talk about the situation. There may be things that make you more comfortable with the situation.
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The health issue in my family isn’t cardiac but I can relate to the anxiety around allowing a child to be so far away with potentially catastrophic outcome due to a serious condition. Does the cardiologist think a continuous monitoring device (vest or patch etc) would be of benefit for your son’s case?
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Your child will probably have difficulty getting an insurance plan that will cover some of these issues. Health care in the US is EXTREMELY expensive. Because he now has a “pre-existing” condition, the insurance companies can reject your child’s request for a health plan. A number of these insurers do not cover certain pre-existing conditions. It’s not that they don’t want to, it’s that they can’t afford some of the procedures. Student health plans tend to see students with colds/flu, bacterial infections, broken legs/arms, sports injuries, vehicle fender benders, etc. Cardiologists are probably a no.
So, he doesn’t want to take a gap year; he may not have that choice because he may not be able to be insured. Is he a US citizen? If he is not, he won’t be eligible for Medicaid funding. I worked in hospitals and had to present the correct insurance billing codes for Medicare, private insurance and Medicaid/Medi-Cal in California. If his insurance doesn’t cover certain cardiological services, he’ll have to provide a cashier’s check to the billing office to begin any care.
@aunt_bea I don’t understand your post. Insurers cannot penalize for preexisting conditions. One of mine has type 1 diabetes, traditionally (and internationally still) the hardest to insure, as well as a couple of other serious chronic issues. They have had no problems with college health insurance.
My understanding is some colleges self insure and don’t necessarily offer comprehensive benefits. Depends on state, and college.
Is a cardiologist needed ? Are emergency room visits likely?
Would the the college health insurance plan cover these?
Most college insurance plans cover adequately but can be supplemented with marketplace plans or Medicaid if needed. There are no restrictions on coverage for pre-existing conditions on college plans.
I should have elaborated on this. Your insurers cannot refuse to cover nor charge more for a chronic health condition. They can treat and help with the condition, but certain procedures and clinical trials, that are sponsored by a federal agency, that isn’t par for the course in treatment, wont be covered. He is still in an acute stage and in recovery.
Point: These parents don’t feel comfortable sending him so far away. He wants to go but does not understand the risk. Insurance is just one issue. His health and condition could be pushed by a new environment, new diet, and new stress levels. Having a recovering cardiac patient, while going to a foreign school, with new physicians/staff is just risky.
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It’s not clear to me that the parents don’t want to send him. I read the post as asking for advice on how to safely send him, not how to convince him not to go. Perhaps the OP can clarify.
It is May and there are a few months before school starts. @MS1908 what is the expected timeline for recovery? Can he wait and decide not to go if, by mid-August, he has not recovered sufficiently? Is he going to a school with an MD-staffed health center with PCP and cardiologist, and affiliated hospital nearby?
If the current doctor says he can go, I would consider it and work with the Office of Disabilities, Dean and local or university docs to make it happen. A single room might be needed and a reduced courseload might help as well. Both are possible through the O of D.
OP have you looked into international insurance to supplement the college plan if needed? In the case of the 4 schools we dealt with, the college plan was sufficient despite serious health conditions.
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Thank you, everyone. You have given us a lot to think about. Understanding insurance and access to reliable health care on campus is what I will immediately focus on. I have written to the student health department as well. Let me share some more details. All his heart markers have been normal for 3 months. But his heart rate has not returned to normal (which is par for the course as it takes 6-12 months) and we do not know if the illness has left any permanent scarring in the heart since the MRI is done at 6 months mark. If there is any permanent scarring, then we may want to keep him close to home to observe what that means for his cardiac health. If it’s all clear, then the doctor will give us a letter stating that his heart is back to perfect health and it will not be seen as a pre-existing condition. But we need to decide if we are comfortable sending him away while his heart rate is still not back to normal. He does not need ongoing care. The only thing to watch out for is that if gets the flu or covid, he will need a cardiologist to monitor his heart markers to make sure there is no recurrence of heart inflammation.
His school offers a plan through Aetna Student Health Insurance. He is not a US citizen so Medicaid is not an option. My worry is that the new environment and new everything may not help with heart rate recovery. And my son isn’t really great at advocating for himself in situations where he needs to be assertive and demand attention for medical care.
Do you think it’s worth asking the school if he can take courses for the first semester online and then join in Spring 2024? It will give his body time to recover and he won’t feel like he is doing nothing. To be clear, we would be happy to send him because that’s what our son wants if we know how we could do this safely and without it costing us a bomb. I do not want him to feel we held him back because we were too scared. Hence I am trying to get as much information, advice, and personal experiences of others in the same situation so we as a family can take an informed decision.
Thank you again, everyone. Please let me know if you have any more advice on this.
Regarding health insurance,
I think you’d want to find out if a cardiologist near the college is accepting new patients; then, is the cardiologist in or out of network? How long would it take to get an appointment?
Would a referral from primary care provider be required before insurance would cover an appointment with cardiologist?
How much might care cost?
https://www.aetnastudenthealth.com/en/school/186136/members/find-doctor.html
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What does his doctor in your home country think?
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