Medical Insurance/Medicaid question

[Mrs. Bradbury]

My daughter has a friend at college whose dad took her off his health insurance without telling her or her mother (divorced). The friend is panicking and has mental health issues and she was in the process of looking for a psychiatrist in the city where they go to school and then she found this out. The medical clinic at the college is not an option - they barely do more than give out tylenol. I told my daughter to tell her friend that she needed to find out if her mother & stepfather have medical insurance and if so, to find out how she could be added to theirs, but what if the mother is not able to add her or does not have any herself? What are the friend's options? Medicaid? She needs to do something quickly because her mental state was already eroding and my daughter, who also has mental problems, was already concerned about her before this happened. The friend is 19 or 20 years old and is a full time college student in GA.

Thanks for any help or guidance you can provide.

[HM]

Usually the college offers some sort of insurance policy to their students. She should look into that as well as for help from her mother in including her in her insurance.

[angierae]

Originally Posted by Mrs. Bradbury

My daughter has a friend at college whose dad took her off his health insurance without telling her or her mother (divorced). The friend is panicking and has mental health issues and she was in the process of looking for a psychiatrist in the city where they go to school and then she found this out. The medical clinic at the college is not an option - they barely do more than give out tylenol. I told my daughter to tell her friend that she needed to find out if her mother & stepfather have medical insurance and if so, to find out how she could be added to theirs, but what if the mother is not able to add her or does not have any herself? What are the friend's options? Medicaid? She needs to do something quickly because her mental state was already eroding and my daughter, who also has mental problems, was already concerned about her before this happened. The friend is 19 or 20 years old and is a full time college student in GA.

Thanks for any help or guidance you can provide.

She should check with the county she lives in - either at school or at home or both. Often counties have mental health programs that will give her sliding scale mental health services. They will probably assist her in applying for Medicaid, too.

She should check with her mother first, of course.

[ancestry]

Have her check with her mother. There is a chance that the father may be under a court order to keep her on his insurance and by dropping her he may be in violation of the court order.

We are required keep my step-daughter on my husband's insurance until she reaches the age of 21.

[zaztooe]

She should go to the hospital emergency room. They will do a mental health screening and set her up with any doctor appointments or clinics that she needs. Insurance is not required to be seen. I'm sure she is worried about the bill but she can work that out later. Her mental health is the most important thing.

Hospitals have "charity care" for those that need it and apply. Or medicaid will go back 30 or more days to cover medical expenses once approved.

She should check with her mother about coverage but she should not wait for treatment. I can all be worked out later.

Mental health is very tricky and can erode quickly if left untreated. Please encourage her to seek treatment and know that it will work out in the end.

It sounds like your daughter is a good friend. Good job Mom

[auralia]

if i were her the first thing id do is call my dad and ask him why he doesn't want me on his insurance and put some serious questions to him and then tell him off if he was an *** (just because this would make ME feel better about the situation... now this girl might not be like me) then i'd check on insurance through mom then the state. Perhaps she could contact a church if she is a member of any religion priests and pastors are well trained in such areas and it could help to bridge the gap tell she can find coverage (please note i'm not religious but my neighbor as a child was a minister and he was trained in such things).

[RitaE]

The only reason for her to go to the Emergency Room is if her health is in an Emergency. In this case, if she if experiencing strong feelings of suicide or violence - then by all means go to the Emergency Room for a psychiatric evaluation.

Second, although the medical clinic at her school might not have the staff to treat her, they almost certainly have information on mental health referrals and counseling resources available to her - including whatever Student Insurance programs she would qualify to purchase. She needs to contact them, every College and University is quite cognizant of the mental health needs of students and they all have resources in place to make referrals and facilitate treatment.

[Mrs. Bradbury]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I have passed them on to my daughter. Hopefully her friend's mother can find a quick fix for the insurance situation; that would be ideal.

[PatsMom]

My daughter is required to have mental health coverage to attend her university. We have chosen to keep her on our coverage as the plan costs about what the college plan costs and we actually have lower co-pays and better coverage. Of course the clinic at the college does not accept our Cigna plan so if she needs to see a doctor, she has to catch a ride to our primary care or the campus busses actually go to a walk in clinic that accepts our plan.

We have to certify that our plan covers mental health visits at least as generously as the student plan. The OP might suggest that her daughter's friend look into the college plan. The clinic should have information on enrollment. And while she is enrolling, even if they don't do counseling on site, they surely have referral to community resources available.

[PatsMom]

Forgot to add - I believe that college students do not generally qualify for Medicaid. Might be an exception if they are employed full time and going to school. But Medicaid is intended for those who are low income working, temporarily unemployed, etc. It isn't meant to allow someone to choose to remain a full time student rather than seeking employment.

With that said, there are lots of programs out there that do have non-governmental assistance for mental health purposes. The school should be aware of these and able to make the necessary referrals.

[Tinker'n'Fun]

My daughter had to literally jump through hoops to be able to "not" get the school's insurance because my plan for her is better. I would highly recommend the school's insurance and at least here, it is a yearly plan so she would be covered throughout the year.

My husband was not required to pay for health insurance after age 19 for my step-son. Now you didn't state the relationship the young lady had with her father. If she is on good terms with him, rather than call him names, his insurance if required to cover her until she is 26. She should ask him for the prices to do so. It may be cheaper than the schools plan. Same with Mom and her insurance.

And while I know Dad's get a bad wrap around here, it may have been just an oversight. If she isn't living with Dad, 19 is the age many insurance companies automatically drop children. They would only be covered to the end of the month of her 19th. birthday and if Dad isn't paying attention, he may not even realize it.

Health insurance companies are not always the easiest paperwork to read through. No it doesn't give the Dad a pass to not be diligent, but hey, I've missed things a few times and I do read every piece of paperwork.

I hope everything works out for the young lady.

[stm61]

I think Medicaid only covers up to age 18. I know my neighbors lost coverage on their oldest last year when he turned 18, and he hadn't even graduated from high school yet. From what they told me, the only way a child over 18 qualifies is if there's some sort of qualifying condition like pregnancy, an accident that still requires treatment that occured before their birthday, things like that.

[ancestry]

Originally Posted by Tinker'n'Fun

My daughter had to literally jump through hoops to be able to "not" get the school's insurance because my plan for her is better. I would highly recommend the school's insurance and at least here, it is a yearly plan so she would be covered throughout the year.

My husband was not required to pay for health insurance after age 19 for my step-son. Now you didn't state the relationship the young lady had with her father. If she is on good terms with him, rather than call him names, his insurance if required to cover her until she is 26. She should ask him for the prices to do so. It may be cheaper than the schools plan. Same with Mom and her insurance.

And while I know Dad's get a bad wrap around here, it may have been just an oversight. If she isn't living with Dad, 19 is the age many insurance companies automatically drop children. They would only be covered to the end of the month of her 19th. birthday and if Dad isn't paying attention, he may not even realize it.

Health insurance companies are not always the easiest paperwork to read through. No it doesn't give the Dad a pass to not be diligent, but hey, I've missed things a few times and I do read every piece of paperwork.

I hope everything works out for the young lady.

Insurance companies can no longer drop kids at 19. Under ObamaCare they can remain on their parents insurance up to age 26. Now that doesn't mean that the non-custodial parent HAS to carry the child. Only that the insurance can't drop them due to age.

[ccgirl]

Originally Posted by Tinker'n'Fun

My daughter had to literally jump through hoops to be able to "not" get the school's insurance because my plan for her is better. I would highly recommend the school's insurance and at least here, it is a yearly plan so she would be covered throughout the year.

My husband was not required to pay for health insurance after age 19 for my step-son. Now you didn't state the relationship the young lady had with her father. If she is on good terms with him, rather than call him names, his insurance if required to cover her until she is 26. She should ask him for the prices to do so. It may be cheaper than the schools plan. Same with Mom and her insurance.

And while I know Dad's get a bad wrap around here, it may have been just an oversight. If she isn't living with Dad, 19 is the age many insurance companies automatically drop children. They would only be covered to the end of the month of her 19th. birthday and if Dad isn't paying attention, he may not even realize it.

Health insurance companies are not always the easiest paperwork to read through. No it doesn't give the Dad a pass to not be diligent, but hey, I've missed things a few times and I do read every piece of paperwork.

I hope everything works out for the young lady.

Great post.

Originally Posted by stm61

I think Medicaid only covers up to age 18. I know my neighbors lost coverage on their oldest last year when he turned 18, and he hadn't even graduated from high school yet. From what they told me, the only way a child over 18 qualifies is if there's some sort of qualifying condition like pregnancy, an accident that still requires treatment that occured before their birthday, things like that.

Not true. Medicaid is for low income people, regardless of age. They probably lost coverage because he was now considered an adult so they were no longer responsible for him. As such, the $$ they were making no long included his support; thereby, making Medicaid no longer necessary.

Further info regarding Medicaid eligibility can be found here:
http://www.ec-online.net/knowledge/a...doverview.html

[RitaE]

Medicaid is for people of all ages but every state (I believe it is every state) has some sort of child program that covers uninsured children under the age of 18 with family income limits that are far more lenient than adult medicaid programs.

My guess with that post is that the child belonged to a family which qualified for Medicaid Coverage for the children, but had household income levels which excluded adults.