My husband is in private practice and we are insured by a good private but expensive BCBS plan. My husband will soon turn 65 and we will still have two children in college. He does not plan to retire anytime soon due to the loss of our savings and the economy. One of our daughters was recently diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and making sure she is able to have Continual and Affordable Health Insurance is critical. Will we be able to continue to maintain a policy similar to our current one maintaining our children on this plan? Are there other options we should look into, or information that we need to know to protect ourselves and our children at this critical juncture?
If we can ask a couple of additional questions, we might be better able to advise. 1) Is your current private coverage with BCBS under an individual/family plan or a group plan through your husband’s practice? 2) Are you also insured on this plan along with the children? 3) How old are your children? Answer by moderator — June 30, 2009 @ 2:19 pm 2 CommentsLeave a comment |
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Given your daughter’s current medical condition, it will be a challenge for you to obtain new coverage that is not guaranteed issue. These would include a) coverage under a group health plan, b) COBRA or c) high-risk pool.
Thank you for getting back to me! We have an individual plan with BCBS, my husband, I, and both girls are covered. One child, age 19, is a rising second semester College sophomore and has plans to do post grad work. The 17 year old, rising senior in High School, is the one that is ill. She will turn 18 this October, is straight A student, who plans to go in to medicine.
Comment by Anonymous — June 30, 2009 @ 12:36 pm
BCBS should allow you to maintain your current coverage once your husband turns 65. They will make you the primary insured under the plan and make the appropriate rate adjustments for “subscriber and children” coverage. Most BCBS plans in NC allow a dependent child to remain on the policy to the age of 26 if they are full-time college students. However, this depends on the details of your specific coverage. You will need to review your certificate of coverage or contact BCBS customer service to be certain.
The other option is to inquire about moving your 17 year old onto a “child only” plan. BCBS should do this without eligibility review, but you need to verify with them as I am not familiar with their exact policy in regards to this. The advantage of that is her coverage would no longer be subject to dependent eligibility and it will convert to a “single adult” policy when she turns 18. The premium might be slightly higher if you split coverage in this way, but it would also give yourself and your 19 year old the freedom to shop for less expensive options.
You should inquire with BCBS about this now so you may explore alternative options if their policy does not allow for this. Please let me know what they tell you, as other people may benefit from this knowledge.
Comment by Moderator — June 30, 2009 @ 12:39 pm