Kevin McCormally: I am Kevin McCormally of Kiplinger's and I am here with Janet Bodnar, Deputy Editor of Kiplingers Personal Finance magazine to talk about health insurance for adult children. Janet how long can a child stay on a parent's health plan.
Janet Bodnar: Well usually Kevin as long as the child is a student or sometimes beyond that up to a certain age perhaps the age of 25. So, it pays the check with your insurer.
Kevin McCormally: Okay, but when the child has to go off the policy, how can you protect that and make sure that they have coverage. A lot of these kids want to go bare, we know that it's not a good idea. What can you do?
Janet Bodnar: The first thing is they can get student health insurance while they are still in school, so if you think that there's a couple of months in advance you can sign them up for a policy. It's probably the least expansive way to go, probably it's going to cost you a less than a hundred dollars a month and they can renew the policy after they graduate.
Kevin McCormally: Okay, but let's say we missed that deadline. What's the chance after the child is out of school that's when you discover they are off their parent's policy, what can I do?
Janet Bodnar: Then you can always get a short term policy which last for say six months to a year again it won't be all that expensive and hopefully by that time your son or daughter will have job and be able to get his own coverage.
Kevin McCormally: But let's say again that the job hasn't happen yet. What you do at the end of the six months period?
Janet Bodnar: Then you have an option of getting an individual policy with high deductible again because it has a high deductible, the cost will be fairly low but your child will be covered in case of this skiing accident, the unexpected illness something kind catastrophic that you don't anticipate.
Kevin McCormally: Any drawbacks to that kind of policy?
Janet Bodnar: Yes, usually these policies require that you be in fairly good health . So if your child has a pre-existing condition and could be something like asthma or depression, it might not eligible for these policies.
Kevin McCormally: Any other options?
Janet Bodnar: Yes there is still another option for that. You can continue to have your child on your own policy under the Federal COBRA provision. Now, it's expensive because you will have to pay the entire premium, the entire group of premium, but again it gives you a safety net while you look around for other coverage.
Kevin McCormally: How can I shop for all these kind of policies to figure out what it is going to cost?
Janet Bodnar: Well, as far as the COBRA coverage is concern you should see your employer but if you are looking for an individual policy, there is a great web site it's called www.ehealthinsurance.com and it has a great price comparisons.
Kevin McCormally: Thank you very much Janet.
Transcription by:
Scribe4you Transcription Services