posted
I am about to graduate college, and as soon as I do, I will no longer be under my parents' health insurance plan. Which means, of course, that I need to get my own. Any advice? I really don't know the first thing about insurance. I don't know where to start.
Posts: 486 | Registered: Feb 2005
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posted
Yeah. I agree with the full-time job thing. Getting your own insurance is soooooo expensive. Without a full-time job you probably can't afford it...and if you have a full-time job you don't need it.
posted
Not always. And I don't think that's what she was asking.
I don't know anything about getting insurance in Ohio, I'm afraid. There should be a state agency that can help you find some info.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
Ah, perhaps I should be more specific. I will be working at a summer camp until August 24. I don't know yet if they offer health insurance, but I'm thinking not. So I do plan to get a full-time job after that, but what about those three months?
Posts: 486 | Registered: Feb 2005
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quote:I am about to graduate college, and as soon as I do, I will no longer be under my parents' health insurance plan. Which means, of course, that I need to get my own. Any advice? I really don't know the first thing about insurance. I don't know where to start.
Your parents plan might have a continuation option. You'd have to pay the premiums, but it would likely be cheaper than anything else available. It's not always easy to find out about; you may need to call around.
posted
Hope some of that is helpful. I know that short-term insurance, while it often doesn't cover everything, can be relatively inexpensive. And Dags is right -- find out what it would cost to stay on your parents' insurance.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
BTW, if you have any preexisting conditions, don't let even day lapse - it will very likely make treatment of that condition not covered for one year.
Anything that developes during the gap would fall under the same policy, so it's best to have no lapse anyway. But if you do have a preexisting condition now, they'll definitely find out about it.
posted
I've always wondered how they find out about preexisting conditions... can they tell from just looking at the patient, or does it have to be in a previous medical record? I don't really have any medical records beyond what shots I've gotten, so what would a new provider do if I showed up with a 4 year old tumor or something? (Just a hypothetical!)
Posts: 1681 | Registered: Jun 2004
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posted
When I fell out from under my parents insurance shield (both graduation and age restriction at once), I looked at the option of a CoraSERV extension. It wound up being around 600 dollars a month, for up to three months. Talk about cost prohibitive.
Since a major part of that is that my parents both have some major, and permanant, health issues, their insurance hit a peak of sorts. I'm paying around 100 a month right now for some much more than adequate BlueCross/BlueShield insurance. They seem to be a tad bit slow paying out the full amount, but they're very well known and haven't balked at any of my claims yet (not even my MRI). Oh and for the record I am employed full-time, and receive to assistance from my employer (not rare in Architecture sadly).
The moral here is that keeping continuous coverage is a good thing, and be sure to evaluate the costs between continuin coverage and starting your own.
posted
My sister just graduated, and is dealing with the same issues. Her suggestion is to check with your school's alumni association. At Michigan, at least, all graduates are given a year's free membership to the alumni association, which can help with getting insurance.
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Not always. And I don't think that's what she was asking.
