<p>Is there a "norm" on whether children who are 18 or older must be full time students in order to stay on parents' medical insurance? My D is thinking of dropping a class, which would bring her below 12 units. She has so many credits that I am not otherwise concerned. Thoughts? Tomorrow is the add/drop deadline and I won't be able to speak to the insurance people till tomorrow.</p>
<p>I found the information on our insurance website. For us it was whatever the school called "full time" which is 12 units undergrad 9 units grad. </p>
<p>Some of my friends had no units restrictions with their insurance, the kids just had to still be dependents. </p>
<p>When I called our insurance co, the lady just read the stuff that I found.</p>
<p>Is there a switch to credit/no credit? instead of drop to keep the 12 units? </p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>hmmm if you have filed your attendance confirmation prior to her dropping, then that is not really an issue....but...after if her dropping is DUE to illness there may be an exception. YES though 12 hours IS generally the min to stay on your parents policy AND stay in school housing in general. She should go to the dean of students for advice on this.....or suck it up and stay in the class.</p>
<p>THIS MAY APPLY TO 19 YEAR OLDS and as an 18 year old she may be ok.....so maybe volunteering this to the insurance company is not the best idea....have you been sent an eligibility form from the insurance company ?
I def. did not have to mess with this until they were 19....</p>
<p>I am a medical office administrator and there are companies that require a transcript or other evidence of full time status once a dependent reaches a certain age. Is you ins co on line? You may be able to look up in member services section re dependent coverage and student status.</p>
<p>I just did some searching on the internet. Our company seems to use the 12 unit cutoff, while most/many seem to only require that the child is a dependent for federal income tax purposes. If she feels she needs to drop the class, I may just take our chances for the next three months. She has the resources at school, and I don't expect this minor noncompliance will come to light.</p>
<p>I don't know if this is any help,but. The dental insurance sent us the form that needs to be completed to verify full time status on Aug 1. It states that we need to return it within 60 days. I called just over a week ago because, son is first year grad student and all his classes have to be added on paper and he was still tracking down a dean for permission to take a class(performance class) for zero units. I was panicking that I couldn't get the paper work in before 10/1.
Anyway, the lady told me that we would get a cancellation letter first and we could always be reinstated. The cancellation letter wouldn't come till Dec 31.--First semester ends before Christmas. Son did finally get his paperwork, so we are ok. If only he didn't want to work so much so that he could see the dentist for a checkup.
I hope that if they ask you for the proof, it will be after next semester or quarter.
Our medical just seems to ask if son is still a full time student if a claim is submitted.</p>
<p>Some states have changed the guidelines for continued eligibility for dependents. Check your state's guidelines. For example, I have heard that as of Jan 1, 2009, in CT dependents will be covered until age 25 whether they are students or not...and that this will be required of all policies. I haven't seen this in writing but heard about it at a workshop on insurance. </p>
<p>Also, check your policy...policies do vary. Some cover students for 30 days after full time status ends, some cover for 90 days, it varies. </p>
<p>We have to send in a thing annually verifying our kids' enrollments...come to think of it, we haven't gotten it yet. I better call!!</p>
<p>A caveat re older dependents: in NJ although coverage to age 30 is available, it is my understanding that it is not automatic, and requires an extra premium.</p>
<p>It depends on your insurance. Some will insure all dependent kids up to a certain age, others only if they are full time students. Th ones that only insure full time students usually also require you to notify them immediately if that "full time" status changes in the middle of the school year.</p>
<p>We have never been asked for any proof - our daughter is a sophomore. I think she has only been to the Doc once since starting college (other than the multiple visits for rabies vaccines this summer but they were paid for by workers comp not our insurance) .</p>
<p>Every August since my D's turned 19 I have gotten formal letter with form to fillout and has to be sent with certificate of enrollment which shows history of enrollment w full or part time status and current status.</p>
<p>My insurance operates the same way Atlmom's insurance does, covered until age 19 and then confirmation every August/September with a certificate from the school.</p>
<p>We provide proof every August, but it can be any sort of documentation like the bill, class schedule etc. The rule on our plan is "whatever your school considers full time status". If you have already shown proof, I wouldn't worry too much about the next three months even if a class is dropped. My lawyer-mind goes to the situation where there is a bad accident or cancer diagnosis and the company tries to get out of paying benefits by verifying student status way after the fact......</p>
<p>It depends on the insurance company. H 's company does require proof each year, but does not seem to care what happens in between. Had a large claim last year that really put him under 12 credits. It's a pain having to send two schools proof that we have insurance and the insurance that the two college boys are ft in college.</p>
<p>Just as an aside, this year we were chosen for a full audit. Had to send tax returns, marriage certificate, verification from kids' schools, all of the kids on the insurance to make sure we were ALL eligible. First time ever for us, but they are done on a spot check basis.</p>
<p>Interesting about the full audit. I ooked at CA law and it appears that policies in CA can not make a child ineligible at a specific age if the child is a dependent and, for mental or physical health reasons, cannot be self-supporting. I would certainly assume that the child wouldn't become ineligible if a mental or physical ailment is the reason for the reduced load. Hopefully, it will never come to defending eligibility but I feel pretty OK with our position and the facts if need we need to do so.</p>