Utter stupidity is reigning supreme at my house...can y'all help me?? (re: health insurance)

Parents Forum
1

I cannot begin to tell y’all how many mistakes we have made in this college admissions season.

Let me just say, out of an abundance of ignorance, (two older, non college parents here), utter stupidity reigned supreme.

But just as I thought we might be recovering from those mistakes and figuring out how to pay for college as she decides, I see YET ANOTHER thing we were stupid about. So many smart people here, maybe some of you can help me.

Way back in the old days, that is, the early 80s, when my friends were going to college and my brother, seems like if they got sick they just went to the student health center and got righted for pennies on the dollar. I just realized (!) that is no longer the case after sitting down with our financial aid package and seeing “health insurance” in this smaller print down there toward the bottom. The print may have been smaller, but the figures sure weren’t! I mean, I guess while you are focusing on things like $55,000 in tuition that you kind of gloss over seeing a “small” figure like $3300 but now I’m laser focused on it.

So here’s the deal. After a disastrous admissions season, we are down to two: the safety, a perfectly lovely all women’s school in Georgia, and a private university in Berlin (daughter is a dual citizen). The required health insurance for Agnes Scott is $3300/year which seems…exorbitant. Background: husband and I are self employed in very small town Mississippi. We went years and years without health insurance because it was, basically, either have a place to live or have health insurance - that’s the way it is when you are self employed. We were thrilled when the ACA came along because we finally got health insurance. It ain’t all that, but it’s something if something catastrophic happens. My girls, because of our income, have always been covered under the Mississippi CHiPs program at relatively no cost to us (which we have NOT abused as we are so thankful to have it and my long term breast fed babies have been very healthy :slight_smile: ) . I say all that to say, this college health insurance comes out to about $279 a month, which may not sound like much but is fully double what my husband and I pay combined for our health insurance and so seems quite high for a healthy, normal girl with no pre-existing conditions. I am planning on paying out tuition monthly in some fashion (she got a nice scholarship and small grants) with my measly income but another $279/month for four years honestly pretty much puts it almost out of range/possibility for me. Well, I guess second job is certainly possible but let’s just say it makes paying for college much harder because that’s basically another $13,000+ for four years just for health insurance. The German option for college is a wee bit cheaper (not counting insurance, tuition after scholarships/aid is about $1,000 less) because of the healthcare in Germany is much cheaper but by the time you add travel I don’t guess we are any better off.

These are my questions:
*is there affordable health insurance for students out there not thru the college?
*the open enrollment for ACA is closed and won’t open again until fall (hopefully - who knows in this political climate). Even if I was able to get her enrolled on her own in GA, Agnes Scott charges you once each semester for the insurance and there are NO refunds which means if she started in ACA in January, we would be paying BOTH coverages until August when the college’s insurance would start again. I sure can’t do that.
*I can’t enroll her in the GA CHiPs program because she is underage and so tied in with our income and we don’t live in GA. Plus coverage ends at age 19 so really that would only be a year option if it would even work.

Do I have the above things wrong? Are there any other affordable options out there? She is already working full time (we homeschool so she is schooling at night and is basically done anyway) to pay for the required $5500 student part of her tuition and her books and so she really can’t help with the insurance too even though, bless her, she has asked.

I would appreciate any options and opinions! (well, nice opinions, anyway). Thank y’all!

2

She may have to take out a student loan. She is eligible to borrow $5,500 during her first year of college–which may be why Agnes Scott left a $5,500 funding gap.

3

I’m not an insurance expert, but I’m also self insured and a couple of things come to mind. You could find out how much it would be to add her to your self insured plan…it very likely would be less than $3300 per year. Typically, insurance plans allow you to add a dependent as long as they are enrolled full time in college, even when they are over 18.
I don’t know anything about ChiPs, but I think I would investigate if you could keep her on until age 19…as you can see, even one year at a lower cost option will be incredibly helpful. Another idea would be to have her get health insurance through her full time job, then when she leaves it in August, she could use COBRA to pay those premiums herself for I believe up to one year, so that also might be cheaper than the college option.

4

How about a local instate public that still accepts applications, and where she might get merit? If she has high stats that might still be possible.

Also, if your income is pretty low, might she qualify for state aid? Does Mississippi have a state grant program?

Or, how about a German public university? Do you have family there she could live with and take the train to a school nearby? She would still need health insurance.

Maybe a gap year would be a good option, if she is still underage? She could work and reapply to more affordable schools, and/or go live with relatives in Germany for a few months to become more fluent in German.

5

Or get an on campus job at Agnes Scott to pay for her health insurance.

6

@TS0104, none of those options work. MS CHiPS will not cover anything in GA so Agnes Scott won’t accept that option. We are covered under ObamaCare and I cannot add her until open enrollment in January so that isn’t an option. And she is just a waitress at a little local deli so they don’t offer insurance so that isn’t an option either :frowning:

7

Student health insurance is an often overlooked requirement and expense, you are definitely not alone.
Here is the Agnes Scott page detailing health insurance options. https://www.agnesscott.edu/wellnesscenter/student-health-insurance/index.html I expect you have studied that, but call them to talk thru options…they have worked thru this many times.

Regarding ACA, I believe going to college qualifies as a status change, so students can enroll/purchase insurance outside the normal enrollment windows…please verify this and again, hopefully Agnes Scott can help. Here is the government’s ACA info page for college students https://www.healthcare.gov/young-adults/college-students/

Aetna provides Agnes Scott’s health insurance and they might be a good resource as well, perhaps they can help you find a more affordable option that they provide on the GA exchange. The number to call is in these FAQs, last question https://www.agnesscott.edu/wellnesscenter/student-health-insurance/insurance-faq.html

8

@mommdc, that is one of our mistakes. She is very, VERY politically liberal living in very small town MS (where you can’t even buy alcohol in the 21st century) and she is DESPERATE to get out of the south and so I didn’t make her apply here because I.GET.IT. Agnes Scott is the ONLY school she applied to in the south. I made her apply to U of A honors college this week because I heard they give good aid but that won’t help with MS insurance and, honestly, I hate to make her stay in the south she is so miserable. She isn’t real excited about Atlanta but it is what it is. We didn’t realize it was PUBLIC university that was so cheap and she applied to a PRIVATE one (of course). Lovely school and cheaper but, you know, far far away. Older grandparents there, but five hours away from Berlin and she has only met them once.
Gap year has been discussed ad nauseum (sp?) but, again, stuck here in this hellhole another year as we can’t afford to send her traveling or any of that and I don’t know that just doing that helps her with admissions next year. She applied to ten…accepted two, waitlisted 3, rejected five. Been a miserable, sad few months here.

9

You need to check and see if her enrollment out of state qualifies as a qualifying event in terms of the ACA. It might. The fact is, she would have no insurance if she moves out of state…right?

But you also need to crunch the numbers. It might cost you less to have her on the school plan than to get her an ACA policy.

10

@Publisher, she has the first year of $5500 covered as she has been working part time for two years so we aren’t worried about that. I just don’t want her borrowing for health insurance of all things because she will have to take out those $5500 loans at least two of her four years. As for as a work study thing, I had asked about that and was told not available for her first year on campus (I think I have that right). And I would imagine they wouldn’t cover part time employees on insurance, anyway.

11

Around May 3 or 4 NACAC will publish a list of colleges still accepting applications, that might be an option as well. That info will be posted on CC as soon as it is available.

12

@Mwfan1921 , thank you for all that. I tried this week enrolling her under ACA due to the circumstances but with little luck. It’s the government, you know, and the website isn’t helpful under this situation. Kept just sending me in circles. I know I did look at coverage for my two girls under them this year when I re-enrolled and the cost was astronomical. Like, ASTRONOMICAL. I guess because they are child bearing age? I couldn’t get over how $ it was. There was nothing “Affordable” in that part of the ACA!

13

So if you are paying by the semester at Agnes Scott, you probably could pay first semester, then enroll her in an ACA plan at year end (they start coverage Jan 1). Check with Agnes Scott on that.

But going to be honest, you might not find a better deal that the college will accept as comparable coverage. I think we paid &263/month for my kid’s last year on a BCBS Silver level plan through the ACA.

You don’t have to buy through the ACA exchange, by the way. You can at least price plans right now on insurance company websites. They still have the ACA protections. BUT… they may require proof of residence when you buy the plan. If you intend to purchase in her college state, she’d need to provide that, and companies have their own rules on what they will accept. (Maybe a drivers licesnse?) We actually bought in our home state, making the claim that it was our kid’s home address. But you need a plan that can be used at the college location to satisfy the college (many BCBS plans will).

You might look at switching the insurance you & husband carry to a family plan at year end. But it may or may not be financially feasible.

This was one of the most stressful parts of dealing with college for us every year. Like you, I’m self employed and can’t carry kid on the insurance I’ve got. My ex retired the year D2 went to college, so we had to cobble together health insurance every year. I moved to a new state during that time, which compounded the complexity. And the ins companies dropped the plans she was on every year, so we had to go through this four times. My sympathies.

14

^^^I am not surprised the rep who answered at the government was not helpful! However, your D should be able to purchase a policy on the GA exchange, outside the normal enrollment window. Whether or not that policy would be cheaper than Agnes Scott’s is another thing entirely. Hopefully Agnes Scott staffers who deal with health insurance will be helpful. Keep us updated.

15

@intparent, exactly. I guess that’s kind of why, deep down, I hoped she would pick Bard Berlin because the health insurance part is just so easy. While we only save about $1,000 tuition wise, by the time heath insurance is figured, we would save almost $4000/yr by her going there. Of course, then there are other issues like flying her there and stuff but it’s hard to get past the insurance thing to see all the other hassles Germany would bring!

I’m telling ya, this whole thing has been running the house for months now. Just been a circular nightmare. I just want some peace and rest.

Health insurance, OF ALL THINGS, gonna keep a kid from college. Sheesh.

16

It looks like starting school in a different state is a Qualifying Event under the ACA:

https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/qualifying-life-event/

There are 4 basic types of qualifying life events. (The following are examples, not a full list.)

Loss of health coverage

Losing existing health coverage, including job-based, individual, and student plans
Losing eligibility for Medicare, Medicaid, or CHIP
Turning 26 and losing coverage through a parent’s plan
Changes in household

Getting married or divorced
Having a baby or adopting a child
Death in the family
Changes in residence

Moving to a different ZIP code or county
A student moving to or from the place they attend school
A seasonal worker moving to or from the place they both live and work
Moving to or from a shelter or other transitional housing
Other qualifying events

…

17

OP, don’t beat yourself up. All of this is eye-opening the first time around.

18

@Suzy100, yes and I tried it but when I went to see “apply under the extenuating circumstances” or whatever, it just sent me back to a page that said enrollment wasn’t open. 'Round and 'round I’ve been with that thing!

19

@Suzy100, thank you for that. I cannot begin to relay how much I’ve beat myself up for being so utterly ignorant and naive about all this. I feel I have completely failed her. On top of just now knowing how all this worked (like, not knowing she shouldn’t just apply to all OOS private schools) we had no guidance counselor since we homeschool. We were just sitting ducks for the guns of rejection to fire upon. It has put me to bed. She’s handled it better in some ways than I have though I know she is sad because she so wanted out of the south. Some schools would have been SO PERFECT for her (she really wanted a Seven Sisters) but they didn’t take a chance on the out of the box kid. To know her is to love her but you can’t love her on paper, I guess. Sigh.

20

OP it may make sense to reconsider having your D take out the $5500 federal loan in order to give you all some financial breathing room, and help pay for her health ins., or at least consider taking out the portion which may be subsidized, meaning no interest accrues on that portion while in college. If it is not needed to pay expenses, she could bank it as an emergency fund if needed down the road, or just pay it off early.

Your D can borrow up to $6500 in fed loans herself during sophomore year, and $7500 in her junior and senior years. These loan amounts would total $27k plus any interest on unsubsidized portion. One of my Ds borrowed the full $27k, none of it subsidized and ended up with a balance of just under $30k at graduation. Payments are approx. $300/mo for 10 yrs, not fun but still doable for most grads with a modest starting salary.