^ I regret that my son signed up for health insurance with his company 2 years ago.
Is it too late to get him off it for next year? Or is he too close to 26 that itâs not worth changing it?
I have found employer-provided optional group life insurance to be much more expensive than getting my own policy. And none of the employer policies have been portable - that is, when I leave the job, the policy ends. Employer policies also do not have level premiums for long periods of time - IME every five years you go up a bracket and the insurance gets more expensive.
So unless you have issues that make getting life insurance on your own very expensive or impossible, it is better to get your own policy outside of your company.
My current company gives us 2x our income for free, and does not even offer optional life insurance.
I agree with @notrichenough . If your D doesnât need extra life insurance presently, it doesnât make sense to get the extra thru the employer. When she needs it, sheâll need a great amount more and 20- and 30- term would be the way to go for continuity and pricing.
You might compare premiums for the additional amount at term4sale.com before deciding, assuming she has no underwriting issues that would prevent her getting an individual policy at preferred rates.
I will advise her not to subscribe optional term life insurance.
@busdriver11 My son will be 26 in 2 years. So probably I will not change. Also it will be a hassle like you said if I switch him back because the open enrollment period from my company is different from his. But the bright side for me is I donât have to pay for his healthcare bills 
Portability is a big issue with life insurance thatâs why I have outside of work insurance. But it depends on the company or workplace.
I also found that optional life insurance through work is more expensive than the same coverage purchased privately.
If the D has student loans that you have cosigned, she should have insurance to cover the payoff (and make you the beneficiary) rather than leaving that burden to you.
S and D were able to stay on Hâs family plan until aging out at age 26. S was employed full-time and living 5000 miles from us. He didnât received anything from employer from declining insurance from employer while covered under Hâs plan. Have heard others who DID get some credit from employer if insurance was declined.
I donât recall ever having a health plan (at least not recently) where anyplace out of state was considered in-network. This makes obtaining medical care much more expensive as deductibles and co-insurance are much higher out-of-network, or even not covered at all for non-urgent or non-emergency care in the case of an HMO.
DSâs companyâs health plan is actually far superior to mine - I wish I could go on his plan. It was cheaper for him to go off of mine than stay on it.
When DD graduates, it might be cheaper for me to take her off my insurance, which will let me reduce from family coverage to me+spouse, and pay for an ACA policy for her if she canât get insurance through work.
Whatever I have come Oct. 31st is what it will be. Amen.
Any of us can see any MDs or healthcare providerse who are BCBS and participating & preferred and the co-pays are the same as if we saw participating & preferred providers in our state. We have all received medical care in HI, CA, CO and elsewhere. We paid the same low co-pay for all, as long as the providers were participating & preferred (all the ones we have seen wereâmany with international reputations). We do have an exceptionally good BCBS PPO medical plan, as H was a federal employee for 45 years.
As long as we can continue to carry DD1 and DD2 on group health ins/vision/dental. If DD1 gets employer health insurance after she graduates and is working FT, that will be primary. However we will definitely check the rules. If we would have to drop her to pick up her employer ins, we would not do until we had to. Our group plan is good and not too expensive as an employee benefit.
We have taken out term life insurance policies for DD1 and DD2 (and we are paying the premiums) - those are in place for them, level term, 30 year. Under $250/year each for $300,000 coverage. You never know if they have some kind of medical issue that would down the road not allow them to get insurance, or drive up the cost. www.zanderins.com or call Zander Ins 800 356 4282. I chose A or A+ rated companies - they can quote you on policies with three different ins companies and also give you info if you are looking for different terms (amounts, length of time). These companies do get medical records and draw bloodwork.
Interesting that insurance interview did ask about student loans (we donât have any). They do inquire what stimulates the policy - I just said we like insurance and all plan to live a really long time. DDâs policies are not more than H nor I are insured for.
I do think it would be wise to have term insurance. Some companies have ST and LT disability as an employee benefit, while some industries donât have disability policies (law firms and physician practices for example). I worked in medical, and had my own LT disability policy - it is based on income replacement. Costs a lot more than term life insurance.
A friend of my dad, who was a successful insurance agent, saw the health restrictions and the driving up policy costs in the 1970âs - dad got two policies in place and he was so glad he did - dad was a smoker (had quit for almost 20 years), and he did die of lung cancer at age 63.
We have an umbrella policy, which we obtained once we had the teen drivers. I met someone whose umbrella policy paid out to her $500,000 for her injuries after a drunk uninsured driver hit her head on going the wrong way on the interstate. She was lucky to have survived
If you have insurance, you do have some peace of mind.
I know someone that had a heart condition (congenital), and he was only able to buy some term life insurance through a professional organization - no physical required. Sometimes can also buy through open enrollment periods through Credit Union, but those are of course at pretty high insurance rates. He did die unexpectedly and young (under age 45) of CHF (cardiologist totally missed on recent testing/exam), so he had that insurance and his company provided 2X or 3X his salary. I believe the widow received an out of court settlement from cardiology group. He was fatigued but doc gave him go ahead to jog, and he dropped during that activity. Autopsy revealed what was going on that cardiologist should have seen.
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S and D were able to stay on H's family plan until aging out at age 26.
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curiousâŠdoes the coverage end on their 26th birthday?
The reason I ask is because our plan begins on Jan 1st (we pick in October). If a child on your plan turns 26 in July, would it end on his birthday?
Just wonder when younger son turns 26. Weâll be paying for a âfamily planâ, which will âstartsâ Jan 1, but if he is dropped in July on his birthday, then would we be paying for a family plan after that or would the company keep him on till Dec 31st? Older son turns 26 this year, but we still will have the family plan to cover younger son.
It does end on the birthday. It happened for kid #1 on her dental insurance. Even though we pay the same rate now for 3 vs for 4.
Technically, yes, it does end on their birthdates but I believe there is a 30 day grace period where the coverage remains while they transition to other coverage. Will be looking more closely into all of this as D turns 26 this fall. They do keep growing up!
^^ Yes, thatâs correct, HImom. I have an FEHB plan, too, and my son turned 26 in April. His coverage lasts 30 days past his birthday. He signed up for employer coverage that took effect on May 1 so heâll have overlapping coverage for part of May. Maybe that 30 day grace period is just a feature of federal health plans, though, Iâm not sure.
Iâve had federal employee coverage for the 29 years of our marriage (as a spouse of a federal employee/annuitant), so thatâs pretty much all I know. I am grateful that it allows us to go to the provider of our choice who is participating & preferred and gives us the 30 day grace period. We are trying to figure out what to to keep D insured by some plan or another.
I guess dental is not considered crucial. Itâs different with health insurance.
D has the cobra until age 29 from 26 and ends on her birthday, no grace like when it ended at 26.