Beware of "Hard Waiver" University Health Insurance

Parents Forum
21

<p>My assumption would be that insurance would need to be dealt with annually, since the insurance policy that was the basis for the initial waiver most likely had a one year term. But this is definitely something to be aware of, so thanks, OP! </p>

<p>Although I try to let my D handle a lot of things on her own, I always take care of or double check things that are likely to have financial repercussions for me. Sometimes my D lets things fall through the cracks, and sometimes she simply does not have the life experience to handle things correctly. There have been situations related to D’s college that I, as an educated professional with many years of experience behind me, found confusing or complicated. I’m not relying on my 18 year old to handle all the paperwork on her own without guidance, so I have access to her school accounts and stay on top of them. I do find that D understands more and can handle more as time goes by, but I intend to continue to pay attention. But every kid is different and every family needs to handle these things innits own way.</p>

22

<p>I started out with waiving the Barnard insurance but my insurance changed mid-year and no longer met the requirements for waiving the college insurance. I kept her on my insurance but the college insurance is primary. I was really relieved we had switched when she had this host of medical issues this past term. She’d have had to pay out of pocket for all the meds and stuff she’d gotten from health service and then gotten reimbursed. I believe that keeping her on mine though has been a mistake. We’ll see when it all pans out but as the medical bills are coming in, there is no use for the second insurance and it just raises my costs and deductibles for my son and I by having her on there too. Deductibles and annual limits applied to the student health insurance do not end up applied to mine also so the annual deductible and annual limit is much higher than I anticipated from what I can tell.</p>

23

<p>Read the fine print. For my daughter’s school the waver has be done for each semester.</p>

24

<p>Agree that reading fine print each year is key to avoiding charges you don’t want to pay unnecessarily. This includes health insurance (sometimes we had to submit paperwork each semester too) and tuition refund insurance you have to opt out of.</p>

25

<p>We got paper statements from our kids’ schools so I opened them - especially as I was expecting them. If I need something that I don’t have access to, I ask them to send me a PDF or picture of the document.</p>

<p>MA includes MA PIRG fees too I think and you have to get them waived if you don’t want to pay them.</p>

26

<p>Your son screwed up.most students are more on the ball.</p>

27

<p>$2000 a year for comprehensive health insurance is a trap? My child’s college health plan is immensely superior to mine in level of benefits and a heck of a lot cheaper. I wish I could put our entire family on it.</p>

28

<p>We had the opposite experience, thankfully. I had no idea that you had to opt out every year, but apparently my D dutifully filled out the form and sent in a copy of her insurance. Now we are moving out of the country and onto National Health, so she has to “opt back in.” I’m assuming it will be automatic if she doesn’t fill out the paperwork - but I’ll have her check.</p>

29

<p>At my D’s U, UC quarter system, we had the option to opt out at the beginning of each year and it covered the whole year. I asked and was granted access (by D) to her web portal so I could handle the bills that came up. It’s not just insurance- all kinds of little fees pop up that your kid probably wouldn’t notice. My friend’s son who is graduating from Cornell got emails NOW (a week before graduation) about a $1300 loan that they didn’t know they had taken out simply because he hadn’t checked a box in freshman year NOT to take the loan. Cornell gave him the loan but he (and the parents) never even knew until last week, when it almost stopped him from graduatiing. I wouldn’t expect an 18-year-old to understand all this. It’s hard enough for a 50-year-old!</p>

30

<p>I have no idea whether more students are on the ball about this than are not. However, any parent paying the bills should get them and look at what the itemizations. It’s not like it is a $20 charge or something. It can be a issue if the student is all full aid and picking up the balance and the parent is not involved at all, because, yes, there are a lot of kids out there who have not matured sufficiently to check these things. It takes some people more time than others, and , yes, parents should help out if they can. It’ s one of the few things one can do to help get your student through this transition to a fully responsible adult. </p>

<p>I have a friend, whose daughters both owe for this. She made them totally responsible for their school bills, just depositing the agreed upon support each month. Yes, they ended up owing, and, yes, it is a big problem, because family and now former student finances are so tight anyways. So this is a thread that bears some reading and consideration. </p>

<p>It is wonderful to have children who are responsible and mature enough to take care of these things. Not all of us are in that situation, so to avoid this very avoidable problem, ask for the school bill, especially if you are paying for any of it, and make it a condition of paying. There can be any number of errors on it, and as an older more experienced adult, you may be more likely to catch it. </p>

<p>I’m on a monthly payment plan, and so all of the info, new charges, payments anything is open to me as , I have to look at the thing every single month. </p>

<p>I strongly urge all parents to insist on a copy of the bill if they have involvement with their kids college, particularly the paying part of it. You should always see what you are paying for. Though an extreme, I know a family who was paying for a kid’s college, when the kid had dropped out.</p>

31

<p>The insurance opt out, by the way, was a big pain in the neck for one of my kids. You had to fax or mail in a form. No email, no online thing for that. They did not exactly make it easy.</p>

32

<p>I agree, they don’t make it easy. At Barnard, the form had to be done by mid-February for the 2013-14 academic year. Waiting until it shows up on the bill is not an option.</p>

33

<p>It was worth the hassles for us. We opted out every year for each of our kids and saved several thousand dollars all together. We only chose to take health insurance one year, the year S aged out of our family coverage and was turning 22. It was a reasonable alternative for him to keep his coverage and not have any gaps in coverage until thanks to the ACA, he was once again covered until he turns 26.</p>

<p>Each year the procedure for opting out was slightly different, but I paid attention and did whatever was required because our insurance is fine and we didn’t need extra coveragefor additional cost.</p>

34

<p>We (the parents) received both email and snail mail about this from our daughter’s university. Setting out requirements and waiver process. I still have the letter.</p>

35

<p>The important thing is to confirm what coverage your student does have when away at college, so you don’t get a pricey bill as a surprise, which can be MUCH higher than q y premium. We have friends who found out the hard way–no FAid for thei med bills from their student’s injuries.</p>

36

<p>My first two kids schools did not have opt out insurance billed. the third kids school did and only allowed the opt out paperwork to be completed on the students online account NOT on the authorized payer account. It was a long form that had to be printed and mailed in with insurance card. I think it would be very easy for a first time college family to get trapped into paying it.</p>

37

<p>It is the exception rather than the rule for an individual or a family to have health insurance, or the same health insurance, for four years. Columbia should be praised for ensuring the health and safety of their students.</p>

38

<p>My D’s college automatically bills everyone annually in July on the first semester bill for the college health insurance, but getting the charge dropped is easy. The online waiver takes about two minutes (if that) to complete and the charge is dropped from the adjusted bill without fuss. They let you know that you are going to get billed unless you take action.</p>

39

<p>Dunno about that. I know many families that gave had the exact same insurance for decades, especially of the work for large employer like state or fed govt or healthcare industry. It is important for each family to be sure that that each of its members have the coverage the family THINKS they do.</p>