Can kid stay on my health insurance during college?

[Anonymous]

We were able to change to different plan after learning that our HMO did not have coverage in the area my son would attend school. It was considered a "life event" that allowed a change outside of open season. He is still using our insurance as a 23 year old with a full time job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, until age 26, BUT, you have to get the college’s permission to waive their health insurance (at least at both my kids schools— on private, one VA In state). And their health insurance is $$$. And you only get a waiver if you have decent a decent PPO with good out of network coverage, so that your kid will actually be covered at the location where the college is. HMOs and HDHPs are unlikely to get waivers.

If your kid goes to BC, local DMV and catastrophic coverage in Boston won’t cut it. They will need solid coverage in Boston. I’m a Fed, and had no issue getting a waiver for FEP BCBS standard. And before that GEHA high. But, lots of parent griping on the parents pages of my kids schools that they can’t get waivers with HDHPs, HMOs, etc

Also be aware that that’s health insurance only. My dental insurance kicked my college kid off at age 22. Vision care did not. So for those, look at the policy.

DP. This is really good. Many parents at our school with ssme issue. Our insurance is an EPO, much like an HMO but has a national network (United Healthcare). We were initially not waived but appealed with info on coverage in college area and are now waived.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It DEPENDS.

Two of my kids' universities have an approval process for outside health insurance plans. At these schools, the student must show that their plan meets both university and state requirements. (Some states, eg Massachusetts, enforce requirements for have health insurance plan requirements). Some plans will be ok and others will be denied. For example, HMO plans that provide full coverage in a student's home state but more restrictive coverage in the state where the college is located, can be denied; when denied, they have to purchase the university's student health plan. The approval process is more nuanced than that and varies by school. So, the answer to OP's question will really depend on the college and on the specifics of your particular health plan. There's a waiver process for the schools that have stipulations about outside health plans.

[Anonymous]

For those with kids on college plans, how much is it per month?