<p>We kept our kids on our family plan while in college. If your school offers a waiver if the kid is on another plan…make sure your kid completes the waiver!!</p>
<p>Ditto what everyone said. Be sure to submit proof of insurance so the school’s insurance fee will be removed. A poster in another thread was unaware of this and her s’s registration was frozen and she had penalties to pay because he didnt submit it and she was unaware of this.</p>
<p>Opted out but had to prove we hold comparable insurance. Saved almost $700/semester which was well worth it! DS likely going abroad as a junior so will re-evaluate then.</p>
<p>I’m surprised at how high some of the college insurance plans are out there.</p>
<p>Important to see if the coverages will provide insurance if kiddo travels (if that is something student will do). Some U plans cover that & some don’t, just as some insurers you may already have do while others don’t. Best not to be surprised by a bill that is unexpected if your kid has a medical emergency while traveling.</p>
<p>Not sure what will happen with the Health Care Reform Act but believe if the court finds it unconstitutional or illegal, there will have to be a lot of reshuffling nationally and probably some grace periods to allow people to adjust as needed. I believe many insurers may re-think whether they are willing to provide coverage for people under 26 under parents’ policies at no extra charge if not mandated to do so.</p>
<p>We will have to see what the situation is when S has “open season” again for his insurance from his workplace. We will probably opt out for getting D coverage again, since our insurance (which covers D until she turns 26) is better than the policy that her school offers. FWIW, it does cover the kids while they are on winter, summer & all breaks, but of course this varies by insurer. We only bought the school’s policy when S was turning 22 that year & would lose coverage (before healthcare reform law kicked in). We would otherwise had to have purchased insurance for D last academic year!</p>
<p>OP, you might want to talk to an insurance broker. Everything about health insurance is up in the air until the Supreme Court hands down its decision about ACA. My big worry would be, what if we signed the kid up with the college’s insurance and then decided we didn’t like it and wanted to put him/her back on our policy? It’s very possible that the student would then have to undergo medical underwriting, which could make it very very expensive. If the Court strikes down the ACA, insurance companies could even go back to denying coverage for pre-existing conditions. </p>
<p>Also, at the moment, children can stay on their parent’s policy till age 26, but that’s part of the new law and could go away too. </p>
<p>IMO if you have a good thing, keep it. BUT make sure that there are providers in the area of the college who would take the insurance. </p>
<p>And you needn’t worry about study-abroad at this point. Travel insurance is cheap and can be purchased when the time comes. Basic coverage was included when my D went to China, we didn’t even have to think about it.</p>
<p>LasMa–as long as you have continuous coverage for health insurance, they can’t deny you for preexisting conditions. That came down with the HIPAA change several years ago. What could change is that if you don’t have health insurance now and apply for it, they can’t deny you for pre-existing conditions under the reform but if that goes away, it becomes an issue again.</p>
<p>For the moment, they can’t decline you for pre-existing conditions. But as I understand it, there’s no limit on what they can charge. And if the law is struck down, insurers will go back to denying coverage for sick people.</p>
<p>When our S was forced off H’s policy because he aged out (>22), he had to go on U’s plan & then we had to pay monthly from the time his plan ended (Aug) until Jan, when he could go back on H’s plan as under 26. He never had to undergo medical underwriting because he was always continuously covered under BCBS. It’s always best to double-check these things with your HR department & insurance company & hopefully get a written response that your kiddo can get back on your plan without any concerns about pre-existing conditions or having any extra premium charged.</p>
<p>DS school doesn’t have a student health insurance but all students pay $400 year for access to the student health center. Students are strongly encouraged to have health insurance but can go to the health center for illness and non-emergency treatment.</p>
<p>$400/year is quite reasonable. Our kiddos had to pay more & still ended up with co-pays when they went to the health center! The care they got was a bit disappointing there as well. They botched the blood test that was ordered by our HI doc–only ran for one of the many things she asked them to check for. They also tried to prescribe our S an inhaler that duplicated the one he was already taking when he was wheezing (fortunately he thought it odd & called me before deciding whether to fill the Rx).</p>
<p>That is interesting MizzBee, that the school didn’t require some type of fuller coverage. My son’s college has a list of 8 things your own private insurance must meet or a student has to buy school health insurance. Theirs runs about $2K a year.</p>
<p>I should add that all athletes are required to have insurance coverage.</p>
<p>All the Us I am familiar with do require students to purchase coverage that meets or exceeds that offered by the U or purchase the U’s coverage that runs about $2K+/year. High medical expenses can really dent a budget for a very long time.</p>
<p>Yes, in a blink $2K can be used on even a simple medical situation.</p>