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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Posts
    17

    Default Health Insurance with College

    I am an 18 year old male that recently moved to Arizona for college. I have been accepted to the college I applied to and will be going there next semester.

    When I moved here (Arizona) from New York got basic insurance from my mother and my stepfather. I can only go to the hospital if there is an emergency and I can only go to urgent care if something is wrong. I can't go any farther than urgent care or a clinic. If I needed surgery or farther tests, I would be out of luck.

    The health care I received in New York was some of the best you could get. I still have that same insurance, but nobody takes it here in Arizona.

    My father lives in North Carolina. He took me and my siblings off of his insurance after complaining about us using too much money, so my mother put us on hers.

    My question is, does he still have to provide me with health care until I am out of college? Or is there a certain age he can stop providing me with health care?

    Regards,
    Ken

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Illinois
    Posts
    266

    Default Re: Health Insurance with College

    This is up to the insurance company, if you can get a copy of the policy or if you have a card call up the company and see. Usually it is 19 years old or if the student is a FULL TIME college student than it usually goes to 22 years old. Once again this is just an estimate it varies greatly by many insurance carriers.

    The college usually requires that you purchase their insurance unless you file the waiver to use your own and then only if it covers the essentials.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Posts
    17

    Default Re: Health Insurance with College

    Quote Quoting DonnyC
    View Post
    This is up to the insurance company, if you can get a copy of the policy or if you have a card call up the company and see. Usually it is 19 years old or if the student is a FULL TIME college student than it usually goes to 22 years old. Once again this is just an estimate it varies greatly by many insurance carriers.

    The college usually requires that you purchase their insurance unless you file the waiver to use your own and then only if it covers the essentials.
    Blue Cross/Blue Shield of North Carolina states that an unmarried dependent child in college or not is covered until their 26th birthday.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Massachusetts
    Posts
    24,521

    Default Re: Health Insurance with College

    I have a lot of respect for DonnyC's answers, but this is what I do for a living, so perhaps he'll forgive me if I add to his answer a bit:

    There are actually several factors. Unless there is a court order that requires your father to provide coverage, he is not legally obligated to do so. He must follow any court orders that may be in place. Without a court order, he is not legally obligated to cover you at all, college or no college, regardless of your age. Particularly since you are a legal adult. Perhaps he should, but he is not legally required to.

    Then we get to the insurance policy itself. Most policies, but not all, will carry a dependent who is over 18 and under 23 (or older; in my state by law a policy must carrry dependents until they are 25) but, as Donny says, it varies tremendously by policy. Most require full time student status, some will allow part time student status, a very few do not require student status at all. And once in a great while, if you are over 18 they will not cover you period without a court order, but those are few and far between.

    Finally, if your dad's insurance is employer sponsored group insurance, then there are only certain times of the year when he can legally add or subtract you from the plan. This is Federal law. There is an open enrollment period every year when he can make any changes he needs/wants; otherwise he can only make changes within 30 days of a qualifying event, not just anytime he wants. Your moving to Arizona *might* be a QE but it is not certain to be. Only his insurance carrier can say for certain. And if you have been in AZ for more than 30 days, then it's a moot point. Likewise, a court order may require that he provide you with coverage, but unless the order specifically says that it MUST be his employer sponsored group plan, he is in compliance if he buys you a cheapo plan and pays the premiums every month. Or even takes over the premiums of the policy you already have.

    (All of this is a separate issue to any college policies you may have access to.)

    So first you need to find out if there is a court order requiring coverage. Chances are there is not, or your mother would have had it enforced instead of putting you on her coverage. But check.

    If there is not, then it is entirely a matter between you and your dad.

    If there is, then you need to determine if you are an eligible dependent under the policy. If you are not, then it's still a matter between you and your dad what plan he provides. If you are, then the NEXT question is what is an eligible event to put you on his employer sponsored plan.

    Clear as mud?

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