<p>I just checked our family medical insurance and I'll call the insurance company for clarification...but it looks like our child would not be covered at an in-network level if she attends college out of state. If she has to go to an ER within two days of some accident, that will be covered. But, she has chronic health issues and also needs a steady therapist --- and that'll be true even when she goes to college, I bet. </p>
<p>So, how do parents cover this? I know that most schools probably have a health center and also provide about 10 visits with a counselor on campus, and I'd guess those are covered by some kind of student health services fee. But what if your child should arrange on-going care near her college? College seem of offer medical insurance too, but does that go just for the school year and not the summers? Does the kid bounce back and forth between insurers during the year? </p>
<p>I'm just starting to learning about this. Do you just send your college kid to someone out of network or with no coverage? What's typical? How do you keep costs down but also maintain access to care? </p>
<p>Schools often offer a health service on campus that supplements family insurance, but also offer a full health insurance (for, say, $3k/year).</p>
<p>If she is on a private policy through parents, she can always see specialists and get meds when home (90 day supplies) but check to see if Rx’s can be sent by mail.</p>
<p>If she continues on parental policies you have to waive the school insurance by a certain date during the summer before attendance.</p>
<p>I am paying for a top-dollar “National Access” plan. It might be cheaper to purchase it separately for the college student. Ours has a huge network to tap into for in-network rates. </p>
<p>It really, really depends on the school. My undergrad’s health care system was honestly abysmal but the off campus options weren’t options without insurance (which neither I nor my parents had for a while). I eventually was able to get a policy in the local area but before that I used the lacking on-campus resources to manage my on-going conditions. </p>
<p>At my grad school, a student health fee covers most services as long as you use the health care system on campus. Luckily, it’s a fantastic all-inclusive national hospital and very rarely do students need to access resources not covered by the fee. There is an insurance policy you can get through the school but I think it’s rather pricy. </p>
<p>If chronic conditions are an issue, you want to make sure that the school is well-equipped to deal with it either on or near campus. Off campus doctors can be a real pain when you’re a student. </p>
<p>You will have to check with your child’s school. Many colleges require that your insurance is available in that area .They may also want your insurance to be comparable to what they offer to the students.</p>
<p>Agree that this is a challenge. Our kids mostly just were “out of network” with lower coverage over the years, and fortunately didn’t need it much. When we needed to switch coverage last year anyway, we picked a Blue Cross Blue Shield plan for D2, who is at a college far from home. Good thing we did… an infected cut and a broken arm while she was on campus last summer made it worthwhile. </p>
<p>One thing to note is that not all schools are super strict about the “rules” they lay out around needing to buy their insurance if your coverage doesn’t meet certain guidelines. For example, upon request, D2’s school allowed us to waive the school insurance if we signed a waiver saying we could cover a higher deductible than they said they would allow.</p>
<p>As others stated it varies by school. Check each school’s policy. In our case, my daughter’s school has a good policy that has nationwide (and international I believe) coverage that runs 8/1-7/31. What is nice is that the policy is geared toward the needs of students in addition to the normal coverage. She is not covered under our policy which denied her coverage (before Obamacare) due to chronic health problems. It might work out better for your child to have a separate policy. </p>
<p>Also consider schools that have a medical school, hospital and a real campus health center. Larger schools would probably have a larger health center with more services since they have a larger patient volume. </p>
<p>Also make sure you understand exactly how your policy works. With some policies if you are out of you coverage area you will be responsible for whatever the doctors/hospital decide to bill. In other words, even if the insurance company pays for an ER visit that is out of the service area, you can still be liable for the difference between what was billed (not the allowed contracted insurance rate) and what the insurance paid. Usually when you are in network you are only responsible for the difference between the contracted allowed rate and what was paid by the insurance company.</p>
<p>Agree that you need to start with your current insurer to see what and how they cover. Most Us do offer a medical policy to cover students while attending their U. You should check with the U as to what policy is available and what is ad is NOT covered,</p>
<p>For us, we had BCBS that covered participating & preferred providers. We went to the U a week early and had our kids have appointments with family practitioners attached to the U’s med school that our kids could see if they needed more care than the U health center could provide. It gave H & me & the kids peace of mind. The U had suggested this plan and it worked well for us.</p>
<p>Perhaps you could do something similar, finding a provider who can providing continuing care for your kid that will be covered by the U"s insurance and is convenient to campus that your child would be able to use as needed.</p>
<p>This was something my broker had to research. I asked if I was the only person in the US to send a kid out of state. Apparently so. BC & BS are two separate companies apparently and some of their licensees (franchisees?) and some of their plans are single-state, while others have reciprocal agreements. I think there is no way through this except to step through it with an insurance broker. I found a policy with a reciprocal agreement between states. I still have a hard time believing this is so hard, so if someone finds a way to cut through it all, please let us all know!</p>
<p>What we did worked well–asking our insurance carrier and then the university where our kids would attend to figure out what combo worked best. I’d start there before spending money on an insurance broker.</p>
<p>If your insurance policy does not meet the minimum requirements of the college then the college requires your kid to use the insurance provided by the college. It could cost $2000-$3500 per year. Colleges usually don’t like restrictions.
BCBS, Aetna are accepted by my kids’ colleges.</p>
<p>My insurance lets me designate my dependent child as an “out-of-state college student” which allows any hospitals in his area to be considered in-network for the time he’s in school.</p>
<p>Luckily I have Federal health insurance so it is portable. Day to day insurance is covered by her tuition so my D can visit the health center for routine medical issues (gyn visits, sprained ankle, the flu). If she needed hospitalization, our family insurance would cover it. Though she could get her allergy meds by going to a new doctor there, it is just easier to fill the prescription at home and mail it to her. You can mail drugs, just not controlled narcotics like vicodin and stuff like that. I just made sure her prescription covered the period of time she is away and she will see her doctor for more refills on visits home.</p>
<p>My daughter’s college offers a supplemental insurance plan (actually they require it unless you can prove that your insurance plan covers your child out of state.) I thought most colleges had a plan like this?</p>
<p>I was concerned about this post Obama care, but it has not been an issue for my college son and our insurance. One thing about his college choice, he has outstanding medical care right on the spot and they are very generous to the undergrads there. Could not be better. Will have to see how things work with the next one. </p>
<p>I have one child who was a cancer survivor and that was very much an issue but that was some years back, and the insurance we had then, and the medical options around his college worked out just fine. I took a lot of trouble to make sure that was the case, given the circumstances. My older ones all went to college near excellent medical facilities that took our insurance. So we’ve been fine, but things change and I’ll have to go through the checks again for this one.</p>
<p>It’s an issue too rarely addressed, by the way, IMO as to where to go, what to do, when a medical emergency occurs to a student at college. it’s a good idea to check out the options and have a check list right there, rather than waiting for the real event. My one son found that very useful when a classmate needed drastic care. A mother I know is very bitter about the poor health care and how her son was treated some years ago—he died, and she is convinced has he been in more optimal health care areas, that would not have happened. </p>
<p>We have an HMO that does not cover a college student OOS (or even out of area). It will cover emergency care out of the area, but not on-going care for a full-time college student that is living away at school. When our daughter was OOS in both PA and MA, she was required by both schools to buy a policy- I believe it was a state requirement, at least in PA- and we ended up purchasing it from the schools. Our son is at school in our home state only about 150 miles from us, but since he is more than 40 miles from the closest in-network Dr. on our plan, as of this year the school required him to purchase their plan at around $1600/year which includes summer quarter. We thought that was fairly reasonable and it is a very comprehensive plan with a top-notch hospital. It worked out well as he is a student athlete with a chronic medical condition- this way he gets monitored and if were to be injured with the team it is all right there. </p>
<p>I won’t burden you with a rant, and all’s well that ends well. For anyone in NJ, the only Marketplace plans that will work out for you are AmeriHealth’s. They are relatively expensive, but I can attest to the quality of the National Access system. My son has found very convenient providers in FL.</p>