Health Insurance (Options)

[barkley]

But once graduated that car could not be included on the parents' policy unless the adult child lived at home,

rules may vary by state.

and they vary greatly. I had a detailed discussion with our insurance company b/c I couldn't figure out why they insisted our oldest stay on our policy post college graduation esp. since they KNEW via renter's insurance there was another address but they insisted that so long as our address was listed on the driver's license they considered it the driver's 'permanant address'. I then contacted the DOL who explained that their definition (per our state) is a fixed location where you officially reside and which serves as your point of contact for legal, administrative, and personal matters so since my oldest DOES NOT use their residence as their point of contact for legal or administrative purposes (strictly b/c of terrible postal services) our address is considered the default 'permanant address'. in our case it's beneficial b/c lower premium for oldest/multi-car discount for us result in lower premiums for us to pay.

 

[sam_gordon]

Re: the 1st paragraph:
That sounds like your son was asking for advice, not necessarily asking for a solution. So guiding your son through the decision making process might be what he's looking for. For example, "well, DS, here's some of the factors I would be considering if it were me..." Also, when your son said he didn't know which is the better option, that's a good opportunity to explain to him & his fiance what deductibles, coinsurance, and all that mean...might help them be able to compare apples to apples.

And if it puts your mind at ease, you know how much of this discussion I've told DS? So far, 0%. I try to understand/find out answers to questions I may be asked about a situation before I talk to someone about it.

Re: the 3rd paragraph:
It is not always an option when 1 spouse is laid off to be able to financially afford switching everyone's insurance to the other spouse's employer's health plan. For example:

• other spouse might not be working at a job that offers medical benefits
• other spouse might not be working at all
• other spouse's job might offer medical benefits, but they're so cost prohibitive (like $2000/month just for the insurance premium for a family of 4) that there's no way the family can afford it. This was our family's situation at one point several years ago.

True. But my point still stands... DS isn't getting married for nine months, so him getting on to his spouse's insurance (even if she had her own) isn't an option until then.

 

[kdonnel]

I had a detailed discussion with our insurance company

I also had a long detailed conversation with my auto insurance agent who insisted it was fine to continue insuring the car.

 

[TwoMisfits]

And if it puts your mind at ease, you know how much of this discussion I've told DS? So far, 0%. I try to understand/find out answers to questions I may be asked about a situation before I talk to someone about it.

True. But my point still stands... DS isn't getting married for nine months, so him getting on to his spouse's insurance (even if she had her own) isn't an option until then.

Okay, so he has a planned starting job with insurance. And thus he knows he should try to stick it out in that job til his marriage to ensure he stays covered...or he'll have to pick up COBRA for any interim months or see if he can hop back on your insurance if he can't stick it out.

You mentioned earlier being a backstop. Stepping in when there IS a problem is backstopping. Taking over and taking care of before son is even in a concerning state (I mean, why would he leave his job? Is it something already concerning?) is something more.

 

[tvguy]

and they vary greatly. I had a detailed discussion with our insurance company b/c I couldn't figure out why they insisted our oldest stay on our policy post college graduation esp. since they KNEW via renter's insurance there was another address but they insisted that so long as our address was listed on the driver's license they considered it the driver's 'permanant address'. I then contacted the DOL who explained that their definition (per our state) is a fixed location where you officially reside and which serves as your point of contact for legal, administrative, and personal matters so since my oldest DOES NOT use their residence as their point of contact for legal or administrative purposes (strictly b/c of terrible postal services) our address is considered the default 'permanant address'. in our case it's beneficial b/c lower premium for oldest/multi-car discount for us result in lower premiums for us to pay.

My daughter uses our address as her permanent address but lives 5,500 miles away in Germany. My insurance agent said as long as she isn't here more than 30 consecutive days she does not need to be on our auto insurance. AND she IS covered if she drives our car with our permission in that time frame. She has been here just 10 days in the last 17 months, and she just renewed her Driver's License but when she was here she never drove.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

FWIW y'all insurance agents do make mistakes, insurance agents do sometimes intentionally fib or pretend they didn't hear something. They are technically bound by their insurance license to do what they are supposed to do by their own insurance company(ies) they write with but they can do things wrong. When that happens where an agent did something wrong or told an insured something they shouldn't have or intentionally omitted information in order to maintain a client the client can suffer in the end, sometimes that leads to an E&O claim (errors and omissions) which is an insurance policy the agent has on themselves.

95% of my calls were from agents, trust me when they said "oh wait can you just forget I said that" when they accidentally said something that opened a can of worms my answer had to be "I'm sorry no I can't forget" because I was bound by compliance laws. Agents in general are great and trustworthy but having a conversation with them isn't always the gospel to abide by just because they said it.

Your first point of contact for information is to look at your policy back which is what your policy's booklet of information from what is covered and not covered to what your obligations are to what each and every definition is based on your state and product you are under. That is your legally binding document and what your agent tells you really isn't.