Upon retiring: heath insurance for college students

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cervisia
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Joined: Mon Oct 05, 2020 7:52 pm

Upon retiring: heath insurance for college students

Post by cervisia »

My wife and I are likely to retire while our children are in college. I’m fortunate to have company subsidized retiree health insurance that is likely to cost about $6000/yr per person while in or 50's. As that same per person price would apply to our healthy, teen-age students, I’m wanting to look at alternatives to cover them.

Student insurance, only available at some schools, appears to be a good option. The university my daughter attends offers a good looking Aug-Aug policy for only $1500/yr. However the schools my son is likely to attend do not offer student insurance.

ACA would seem to be another avenue. Both children will attend in-state schools. My understanding, please chime in if I’m wrong, is that they can apply for ACA insurance individually, but as part of the parent’s tax household (so no subsidy). Plans for a ~20yo appear to cost $4500/yr (those 20 year-old have to subsidize the 60 year-olds). I'll note that both students will be using 529 plan funds for tuition/room/board and their own savings+income for ~$2000 of yearly expenses.

What has been your experience with post-retirement insurance for college students?
What other options should I consider?
Is my understanding of how the student-only ACA would work correct?

Many thanks!
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cowdogman
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Re: Upon retiring: heath insurance for college students

Post by cowdogman »

Yes, college insurance is often much better and with lower deductible than ACA or even workplace plans. Plus if the student is far away from your plan's approved doctors/clinic, it will be easier for them to get medical care care at school. Student insurance is not cheap but generally a good deal. I paid $2,983 for 12 months for this school year.

I don't know the answer to your question about your son alone applying for ACA coverage, but given that enrollment is open right now, you should go thru the steps online to enroll him without hitting the final submit button--and see how far you get.
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cowdogman
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Re: Upon retiring: heath insurance for college students

Post by cowdogman »

cervisia wrote: Wed Dec 08, 2021 11:04 am I’m fortunate to have company subsidized retiree health insurance that is likely to cost about $6000/yr per person while in or 50's.
P.S., you should look into ACA. Depending on your AGI in retirement, you may be able to do much better than $6K/year with ACA.
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CAsage
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Re: Upon retiring: heath insurance for college students

Post by CAsage »

Fretting about the same thing when my Megacorp retiree coverage expires and offspring still in college. Have not priced out coverage, the UC system seems to think their coverage is $900 per quarter (unclear about summer....). I would certainly be looking for a very high deductible plan, since we can manage the very rare minor problem, it's the big smashup one needs to cover. Covid or skydiving, that sort of thing.
Salvia Clevelandii "Winifred Gilman" my favorite. YMMV; not a professional advisor.
ronno2018
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Joined: Sat Apr 14, 2018 9:31 am

Re: Upon retiring: heath insurance for college students

Post by ronno2018 »

My daughter is a senior and will finish in May, college insurance is $2500 a year I believe. I think if I add her to my employer policy high deductible plan it is $310 a month additional for her which seems OK. Not as good as college.

Issue is I am wanting her to do a language study term post graduation since covid cancelled her study away program and I am unsure if the high deductible plan covers her when in South America. More research needed!

(Can I add we should eliminate employer insurance in the USA and copy Europe or Canada? LOL). :D
OnTrack2020
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Re: Upon retiring: heath insurance for college students

Post by OnTrack2020 »

Here is some information from the healthcare.gov website regarding college students.

https://www.healthcare.gov/young-adults ... -students/

When husband retired back in early 2020, we had two kids that were graduating from college that spring and going into full-time jobs, but we were on COBRA at the time, so it was pretty seamless for them to go from COBRA over to their own work health insurance plans.

We are now on an ACA plan with one college and one high school student. The subsidies are fairly substantial. We report both childrens' income, but if they stay under the IRS income limit for filing a tax return, around $12,000 or so, then that income is basically not counted in the household income in regard to the subsidy.
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