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

I would call an ACA exchange office near the college and tell them you have an adult child moving to GA who needs health insurance. For income, give the dollar amount you are paying the school, non Tuition directed scholarships and whatever other money it is expected she is going to earn. Moving to another state is an event that allows exception to the enrollment period.

My son just this did a couple of years ago. He moved from here, our home state, to Texas and bought a policy on the exchange while he attended a training program. He had no problems.

If it’s too difficult to do this, pay for the first semester school insurance and then enroll in ACA once there for the following semester.

@sugarplum54 , it sure sounds as if she’d rather stay in the US and make the insurance work somehow.

I reiterate: you have to WANT to go to Germany. Even though Bard Berlin is probably much less hassle than a public school would be, even though there’s family connections (to be used in an emergency only, it appears) it’s not worth the hassle and additional risks just for the lower costs. She’s been, she must have an opinion, and the opinion appears to be “if possible, rather not…”.

There are kids for whom this would be the right choice, Personally, I get energised by having to navigate things in a foreign language. It’s costing me energy, but it’s not a hardship. Some kids know exactly where they want to go and thrive on the adversity overcome. “I want out of the south” is not good enough,

Prepare for ASC and keep fingers crossed for the waitlists…there are kids agonising over choosing MoHo and Reed, there may be movement yet!

@Tigerle , she’s a teenager and does go back and forth. Two weeks ago, Berlin was where she wanted to be. I’m not sure what moved the needle lately. She spent last semester in south Africa, going thru four countries (Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, South Africa) doing school in tents and wilderness and loved every second of it. She has no qualms about maneuvering in Berlin. She’s used to a homeschool of 2 and a Traveling School of 14 so I don’t think the size of 270 was a factor either (would be for me). I’m honestly giving her space because I fear she will think I’m trying to tell her where to go if I give an opinion on one or the other–though I do have one. I know she started a pro/con list and perhaps the pros to AS were outweighing those at BB.

She has shown continued interest at all 3 waitlists and sent supplement stuff. I think the chance for MHC is slim to none based on recent years common data set, SL and Reed might be more likely. Though probably with no aid off the WL so we aren’t really focusing on it. We havent had word yet on New College of FL and U of A Honors.

I know that $279 sounds very high but it so important to be covered either through the school or added to your policy or having her get her own plan. One trip to the ER could be way more than you would be saving. Before she signs up for any plan, she should take into consideration the total out of pocket that she would be responsible for before the insurance starts paying for services (deductibles, co pays, co-ins) student plans usually have a lower deductible, co ins etc. therefore less out pocket expense than plans through the exchange but check all your options first… Just do some homework before she signs up. Health ins is just like a car ins. expensive but should def, have. Best of luck!

I skimmed most of the responses, so some of this might be repetition. But, the insurance cost is pretty darn good. These days, I think a good benchmark is about $500 plus/minus per month per person. If you’re less than that, consider yourself “lucky.”

Second, I would think long and hard about delaying college plans for a year. Since you where new to all this, and have found this sight, you can get a redo. Use what you have learned and ask questions here and do the process with better knowledge. Find the best fit you can, given all of the circumstances – location, costs, major, etc. In the mean time, she can work, maybe attend a few classes at a local community college, and get ready for her move to a four year school. Good luck.

@4sugarplums

My daughter is a student in GA. Until this year, her school did not offer college based health insurance. For two years, she purchased an individual anthem BC/BS policy. The first year, it was purchased directly through the company. The second year, it was purchased off the exchange. No subsidy either year. Then the third year, they discontinued coverage in her area of Georgia. So…she got Ambetter. I guess it was better than nothing…it was the only choice in her area other than Kaiser.

Anyway…the monthly cost for the GA individual was about $275 a month. The policy was very high deductible.

This year, the college is offering health insurance. It’s about $3300 a year…and we totally jumped on it. Cost was about the same. But the best part is it will automatically renew through the school as long as we pay the premium.

As someone who has purchased individual insurance in GA, really, it’s not going to cost you much less if any less than what the school is offering.

Someone posted the link to the requirements for Agnes Scott. A catastrophic policy won’t work.

How would she get a subsidy? She doesn’t make enough money and GA isn’t a medicaid expansion state.

The school group plans are almost always the best available to someone in that age group. This one is very expensive but it has a very low deductible. My daughter’s was only about $700/sem but I don’t think it covered as much (and a different state). Others on other threads have been posting that their school offered plans in Philly and Boston are also in the $3500/yr range.

Our kid’s school offered plan in GEORGIA is $3300 a year…or so.

Your daughter will not be eligible for a subsidy if she buys a GA plan off the exchange. It’s not likely she earns enough to get a subsidy…and as noted…GA is not a Medicare expansion state.

@yourmomma Individual policies are priced by age. So you wouldn’t expect an 28 year old to be paying the average cost that includes all ages under 65 (Medicare age).

Hi @4sugarplums I hope that Agnes Scott can help you out. One idea that we have put forward in our house is the one year deferral… if there is a problem of any kind with the cost the kids know that we would immediately ask for a one year deferral of the admission offer. During that year the kid would work and earn money not a “gap year” program. I wonder if your D asked AS for a one year admission deferral for monetary reasons if that would nudge them to make some accommodation on the insurance costs. Which are high I agree.
I have a grad degree but insurance bewilders me… you are not stupid!

I think Atlanta is probably the only city down south that would suit my liberal kids although one of them seems to think they would fit in New Orleans. No dear, we are Yankees from a Puritan type background and as a young freshman? You will not fit in to LA culture. Trust me… visit later as a full adult that understands the art of tolerance for multiple views…

Bard in Germany sounds like a less good idea can’t exactly say why I think that YMMV

By the way that homeschool trip to Africa sounds completely awesome!

@intparent Yes and no. I believe there is a cap on how much they can charge old people vs young people. And lets not forget the cost of child bearing. It’s a big part of it.

Catastrophic insurance meets ACA standards.

Yes, but I’ve purchased health insurance for 18-22 year olds in the past couple of years. That is about what it costs ($279), not $500. Because bottom line is, they rarely get sick.

Not for an 18 year old.

However, the listed requirements for the college’s health insurance mean that almost no available ACA plans would qualify. A couple of Gold policies would work, one from Ambetter and a couple from Kaiser, but they cost over $400/month. Blue Cross Blue Shield sells in Atlanta, but all their policies have a $7900 out of pocket maximum, so they’re out.

It’s worthwhile seeing what your daughter’s premium subsidy would be; if your kids presently have CHIP, then she’s probably eligible for a big subsidy. But it might not be enough to make the ACA insurance cheaper than the college’s insurance.

has the OP asked Fin Aid if they will kick in more dollars?

@“Cardinal Fang”

How will this student qualify for a subsidy on the ACA exchange when its very unlikely she earns the minimum required income? My kid was in the same boat in Georgia. Not enough income for a subsidy.

She’s under 26. She’d use her parents income, at least as I read this page from healthcare.gov.

https://www.healthcare.gov/young-adults/college-students/

@“Cardinal Fang” can she use her parent income to purchase ACA coverage in another state?

Yes, in order for her to purchase insurance with a subsidy - and as a resident of GEORGIA - she’d have to be independent of her parents. You can’t just buy an ACA policy in another state, you have to be a resident of that state. If she becomes independent for residence status, she uses her own income.

If these were states with medicaid expansion, no problem, she could become a resident and apply for medicaid. The Agnes Scott requirements said that no medicaid insurance from another state would work.

Insurance just isn’t portable. States that don’t have medicaid expansion have a lot of young adults caught in the donut hole of being not getting medicaid, not having enough income to qualify for a subsidy (I think they start at about $20k in income) and not having enough to afford the premium.

A policy that meets Agnes Scott’s requirement is not going to cost less than $3300 per year. The catastrophic policies don’t cover mental health, pregnancy, or a dozen other things that are required within 50 miles of Decatur GA.

have struggled with this same issue of having family covered through ACA, then dependent young adult attends an OOS college. After many hours/multiple calls with Healthcare.gov, the bottom line seemed to be that the young adult did not qualify as a RESIDENT in the state they attended college & therefore was NOT eligible to apply for coverage in that state (despite seeming to qualify for a special enrollment period outside of open enrollment when moving to and from college). Of course the plan they were already covered by in our state had no network providers outside our local area. Talk about a donut hole. One year I did buy the very expensive plan offered by the school (which was excellent). In our case, you could buy the plan for the 2nd semester of the year (ie Jan-Aug) if you wanted, but if you bought it in Aug (1st semester) you were not able to drop it during the school year…which also did not match ACA open enrollment period…this may vary from one college to another, but I’d suggest checking. Agreed this is a very stressful part of kids going to college OOS if family has ACA coverage. Good luck!