<p>So if you have been insuring your full-time student under your work's group plan, when does the eligibility go away? At the moment of graduation? At the moment last classes end? Anyone in the know on this question? And for those who have been through it, what did you do to ensure some coverage somewhere?</p>
<p>It depends on the insurance - there all different. Our son was on my wife's insurance until he turned 25. With my insurance he would have been off as soon as he graduated.</p>
<p>Hey Dig,</p>
<p>My D graduated June'08 and my insurance wrote and told me that she would come of on Oct 31 (and they took her off). They gave me the option of paying for COBRA. However, she is working and has medical. I pay the COBRA for her to have dental and vision on my plan.</p>
<p>It depends on the plan. It depends on what your kid is doing. AND it depends on your state of residence. </p>
<p>First check your health insurance plan. They will tell you what is up according to your policy.</p>
<p>Second..check your state requirements. On Jan 1, in CT...ALL health insurance providers are now required to provide health insurance coverage to all students up to the age of 26...and to dependents residing in CT up to the age of 26. SO...if you lived in CT...your kid would be covered IF they were both a dependent AND residing in CT...until age 26. BUT if your kid is NOT a dependent or resides in a different state upon graduation...the story is different and you're back to asking your insurance provider.</p>
<p>With the plan I'm on in CA, I'm off a month after I turn 22 (Which is in about a week!). This is despite the fact that I'm still in college. I am getting the school's insurance for my final semester, and then will find out what to do after. Fun.</p>
<p>In HI, it depends totally on the language of each policy. For us, under hubby's federal insurance plan, as soon as kids turn 22, they are no longer covered under his policy. Under my sister & brother-in-laws' policy, their kids were covered until they turned 25, so long as the kids remained dependents.</p>
<p>I told my S we have to figure out how to keep him covered as he'll turn 22 in the 1st semester of his senior year in college. At least USC has pretty decent covereage as long as you pay for it & are enrolled with the minimum # of credits.</p>
<p>I think it really is ruled by the state you live in and possibly the insurance policy too. Sybbie and I are both NYS, (I'm assuming you're nyc/nys sybbie) and my kid too was covered for 3 months after graduation. We also had the option of cobra, but d's timing was pretty good, as she got job with medical coverage at time of her graduation.</p>
<p>Under my plan, my son will come off the plan at the end of the month in which he graduates from college; I can pay for COBRA coverage after that (I've checked and it will be very expensive). He would be covered until 25 if enrolled in grad school.</p>
<p>As posted, it varies widely from plan to plan and state to state.</p>
<p>With our kids, the coverage ends at age 23 even if a full time student.
It officially ends at midnight the night before the 23rd birthday. I so wish ours worked until age 25 as D will be a grad student til then and everything (including her student health insurance) is way more expensive.....</p>
<p>Agree with curiouser: varies widely from plan to plan and state to state.</p>
<p>Also, in our case, it varies with the union contract. Our old contract used to allow kids to stay on until 23 no matter whether or not they were in school----new one says off at 19 unless full-time student.</p>
<p>Our kids were covered till the last day of the month of undergrad graduation, age 22 and a month for one and age 23 and 3 months for the one on the 4.5 year 2 degree plan.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>it varies with the union contract>></p> </blockquote>
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<p>State law trumps union contracts. In CT, the mandate if for ALL insurance carriers to carry dependents until age 26 (unless they live out of state and are no longer students). Our old union contract had a policy that had coverage until age 24...state mandate now REQUIRES the newer coverage. In fact, when we were negotiating, we were made aware of this so that we didn't spend time negotiating a benefit covered by a state mandate.</p>
<p>We were pleasantly surprised to find out that our D would be covered under H's insurance until she was 25 if she was our dependent, whether or not she was in college.</p>
<p>you have to call your insurance and find out. Some end on the day of graduation, some at the end of the month of graduation, but many, I think, will let you keep the insurance till the end of summer (it is easier for them because every school has a different graduation date)</p>
<p>My insurance covers my D until she is 25 regardless of whether she is in college or not.</p>
<p>The whole family had optometrist appts today...mainly because D1 will turn 23 in March and will no longer be covered under my insurance. Had to get her eye exam and contacts. I am considering picking up vision insurance under COBRA for her since BC gives her medical coverage as a grad student.</p>
<p>It's best for families to check BEFORE their kids loses benefits & figure out what option(s) work best for the family. For federal employees, there is "TCC," Temporary Continuation in Coverage which can be purchased for the child once s/he turns 22 & loses coverage under parent's plan.</p>
<p>There is another option for federal employees, SAMBA offered by Cigna. It requires an additional premium for children ages 22-26, but at least it offers them coverage.</p>
<p>A friend purchased COBRA for her son when he graduated from college but wanted to travel & explore for a year. Mostly, he received medical care in foreign countries while traveling & it was very inexpensive so he didn't submit any claims for reimbursement.</p>
<p>Ours is the same as archermom - medical continues until age 25 as long as our oldest is (1) a full time student (law school!); AND (2) is our dependant (cost of medical insurance has to be weighed against possibly establishing another state's residency for tuition purposes). </p>
<p>Our oldest will, however, be dropped from the dental and vision plans at age 22 even if a full-time student, so it's important to make final vision and dental appointments before coverage is dropped. </p>
<p>(Our oldest is also being dropped from employer dependant life insurance at age 22, so I'm considering buying a life insurance policy as a college graduation present. My spouse was uninsurable. and then was diagnosed with a terminal degenerative illness in early 50s. I have a unique perspective on the value of life insurance...)</p>
<p>The safest thing to do is to check with the HR department at the subscriber's employer. For me, legally, it's the end of the month that she graduates ("is no longer a full time student") and I'm required to notify them when this happens. There may be some who game the system till the end of the fiscal year when we need to provide full-time student proof.</p>
<p>Ours is 25, even though he has graduated and has medical through his full-time job. I requested a letter from the ins. company just to make sure.</p>