Student Health Insurance

[heisman1979]

Hello all,

 

I am trying to figure out how to go about health insurance for myself, my wife and two year old daughter while I attend PA school.

 

I know that I will be offered school issued health insurance, which will more than likely be pretty spendy (and not cover my wife or child). All of us were on my health insurance when I worked at a hospital, but of course that is ending being that I'm leaving for PA school. My wife is a real estate agent, so she has to buy her own health care. My daughter can be on state health insurance (I think??).

 

My questions to you all are:

 

1) has anyone been in this boat before? What did you do that you thought was a good situation that most efficiently covered your family's health care needs?

 

2) does anyone know health insurance like the back of their hand? What is going to be my best route?

[MT2PA]

You should have the option to add your dependents to your health insurance as a student - it costs more, obviously, but it should be an option.

 

Personally I found my school's health insurance to be less expensive than private insurance or ACA/govt/whatever you want to call it.  Plus, using the student health center is basically free (aside from paying for the insurance each semester, I've paid nothing to visit them).

 

Don't rule it out until you look into it further.

[AliB]

Check out your school's insurance offering.  Mine did NOT have any dependent coverage ... they basically sent me to the marketplace.  Oh joy.  Not.  

 

Anyway, the end result for me was better coverage for less than the policy from the school, so my kids and I are covered.  

[arosswoods]

Mine doesn't offer dependent coverage either. Marketplace offered decent plans though

 

 

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[heisman1979]

Thank you for both of your replies. I will definitely be doing some shopping around. I just want to be sure that I'm doing my homework!

 

Any other thoughts out there?

[fishbum]

I'm not sure exactly what you're looking for, but here are a few thoughts. Forgive me if you already know all of this. 

 

Your cost will depend, to a great extent, on where you live and how much money your wife earns. Insurance purchased via government exchange *may* be subsidized based on a number of factors.  

 

Scenario #1--your wife makes a lot of money. In this case, you're not going to get any subsidies no matter where you live.

 

Scenario #2--your wife makes a modest amount of money. In this case, you might qualify for a subsidy depending on how much she makes. 

 

Scenario #3--your wife doesn't make very much money at all. If you're in a state that didn't expand Medicaid coverage, you'll be paying full price for coverage for you and your wife (though your kids will likely be eligible for Medicaid specifically for children). If your state did expand Medicaid coverage, your entire family might qualify. 

 

I live in NC. My wife makes about $10k per year. That won't qualify for any subsidies. If she made something like $20k then our insurance would be almost fully subsidized. It's a paradox that some states solved by expanding Medicaid coverage. 

 

The only way you're going to know what's best is to go to www.healthcare.gov and put in your family's information (state of residence, ages and income). This will give you a good idea of what's available and what it will cost. You can then compare that to what your school offers. 

 

If your family is young and healthy, you might consider a high-deductible plan. Out-of-pocket expenses are higher when services are used, but premiums are lower. The real benefit to you is that preventative care is covered, you meet the law's requirement for coverage, and you avoid the risk of financial ruin should a catastrophic accident/illness occur (you might be on the hook for the first $10k in costs, but not the several hundred thousand that might follow).