I agree it’s really important to checkbwurh the insurance that currently covers your child/student to see what would and would NOT be covered while the insured is attending college to decide whether to apply for a waiver.
I also agree to be careful with deadlines or you can’t apply if it is past the deadline.
WARNING: Even if the student COULD get the waiver, you have to weigh risks/benefits of the waiver vs the school’s insurance offering. One of our friends opted to get a waiver which was approved. The D was injured while dancing (ballet) and rushed to nearest hospital which was NOT covered by the HMO. She and family had BIG uncovered bills. Thereafter, the dad opted to have his kids have dual coverage—HMO family plan plus university coverage.
At my first child’s university Health Insurance is separate from tuition. You can purchase their plan and they also offer a supplemental plan that is very reasonable that allows him to use the health center. If you decline their plan you have to show proof of insurance. If you don’t decline, or choose the supplemental plan by a certain date you will be billed for the full plan.
Child 2 has been to two different universities. At both of these universities the health insurance is included in the tuition. This one has used it several times and also lives close to home if anything major were to occur.
My first child is further from home. I purchased the supplemental plan and also called my health insurance. My insurance listed him as a “guest” insured which allowed them to issue him a separate card with his out of state address which allows him access to the out of state providers. He has used the health center but luckily we have not had to access the out of state providers.
Some colleges don’t offer a school plan at all that students can buy. Most of the higher ranked schools do, but it varies as you move down in the rankings. So it varies by school — will they accept your family insurance if you have it? If not, can/should your kid buy a plan through the college? If they need to do something on the individual market, should they buy something like a BCBS plan in your home state vs something in their college state? Proving residency to insurance companies in this situation is a pain in the patoot — I wrestled with it every year during D2’s undergrad years, including when I moved states mid-year.
Also, some colleges send the notice that the kid needs to apply for a waiver to the kid — and plenty of kids don’t understand it, so ignore it. So ask your kid to forwards anything about this to you!