Health Insurance

[nurseypoo]

Question:

Do you keep your plebe/cadet on your health insurance, although they will be covered by Tricare?

:stretcher:

[bossf51]

This is always a subject of controversy, along with such topics as tax deductibility and tighty wities. :shake:

We kept our son on since it did not cost any extra. This is a good back up for certain things that are not covered as well by tricare(chiropractic for example). Also, not every kid makes it through the first year at the academies and sometimes it's not easy getting them back on your regular insurance.

So just based on personal exp, I would keep him on.

[USNA69]

This is always a subject of controversy, along with such topics as tax deductibility and tighty wities. :shake:

Don't want to know about the tighty wities but what is the controversy over tax deductibility??

This is from the Academy website:

Q: Sould we continue coverage under our family insurance?
A: It is a good idea to continue family medical coverage for your student. While they remain students they are of course covered for all medical issues by the Navy Tricare system, but if they leave for any reason (especiially medical), it can be a problem to get the family coverage to pick them back up. Pre-exiting conditions might not be covered under a new policy and this has been an issue for some unfortunate families.

Many homeowner policies do not cover loss of personal property on a Military Base. Since USNA is a base, it is a good idea to get insurance coverage for their personal belongings. USAA offers a very inexpensive policy. Call them at 1-800-292-856 for information. But first check with your homeowners insurance to see if your Mid is already covered.

[bossf51]

Every year parents ask if they can still deduct their service academy kid on their income tax. Usually first year they can but not after that.

[USNA69]

Every year parents ask if they can still deduct their service academy kid on their income tax. Usually first year they can but not after that.

Yep. That is it. Pretty straight forward.

[jamzmom]

A heads up to new parents on the health insurance issue. Received a letter from our insurance carrier that they are going to cancel son if we do not provide verification that he is at his academy. They were provided this proof back in 2005 when he went in. Soooo.... I contacted the academy to request a student enrollment verification letter that I will fax to the insurance folks today. They also wanted a tuition invoice. Trying to explain to the insurance folks that we don't pay "tuition" at USMMA but pay "fees" was fun.

The academy covers minor illness & minor injuries so do keep your kid on your policy. Just be sure to copy your insurance company that your child is at an academy. THEN keep a copy (which I did not) of that verification letter for later use.

[Zaphod]

A heads up to new parents on the health insurance issue. Received a letter from our insurance carrier that they are going to cancel son if we do not provide verification that he is at his academy. They were provided this proof back in 2005 when he went in. Soooo.... I contacted the academy to request a student enrollment verification letter that I will fax to the insurance folks today. They also wanted a tuition invoice. Trying to explain to the insurance folks that we don't pay "tuition" at USMMA but pay "fees" was fun.

Good grief...... :confused:

[Just_A_Mom]

Health Insurance:

Whether or not to keep your kid on while at an Academy:

If canceling your child will save you money - then by all means consider it. If you son/daughter then leaves for any reason he/she is eligible to be picked up again by your insurance company subject to their terms of enrollment. This is the Law.
For instance, my child is covered until she is 19 or 23 if she is enrolled in school full time. So she enrolls, then leaves and is under 19 then no problem she is added back. If she leaves the academy after 19 then she must be enrolled in another institutuion of higher learning.
Different policies have different age requirements.

Also, be aware you insurance policy if you do keep your cadet/mid on will probably "Coordinate benefts" which is a lot of "fun" paperwork wise. I would think tricare would pay first.

Bottom line: If you will save a significant amount of money on premiums - cancel your cadet/mid and send them the check every month (haha just kidding!) or save it for airfare to visit YOU!
Check with your benefits person where you work, in deciding to cancel or not.

Note to Jamzmom: Ahhhh yes Insurance companies check periodcally to see if your child is still enrolled in school if they are required to be enrolled for coverage. Mine checks every year on my older daughter.

[Zaphod]

Just something to ponder.... Perhaps Doc could clarify or correct me, as appropriate.

If a Mid/Cadet is injured severly enough to be discharged from USxA, wouldn't they be covered under the VA or something, if only for that condition? Wouldn't that make the idea of keeping them insured "just in case" less attractive?

Just asking. I honestly have no idea, nor do I know what my parents did with me when I was going through. I'll have to ask Dad. :confused:

[USNA69]

Health Insurance:

Whether or not to keep your kid on while at an Academy:

If canceling your child will save you money - then by all means consider it. If you son/daughter then leaves for any reason he/she is eligible to be picked up again by your insurance company subject to their terms of enrollment.

The sole reason to keep your insurance is if your child is diagnosed with a serious disease that causes them to be disenrolled, not eligible for VA, and subsequently unemployable. There is no COBRA for leaving the SAs. Insurance, as a rule, will not cover preexisting conditions. Odds are against needing it, but medical costs can be prohibitive.

The Naval Academy does recommend that parents retain the midshipman as long as possilbe.

[Just_A_Mom]

The sole reason to keep your insurance is if your child is diagnosed with a serious disease that causes them to be disenrolled, not eligible for VA, and subsequently unemployable. There is no COBRA for leaving the SAs. Insurance, as a rule, will not cover preexisting conditions. Odds are against needing it, but medical costs can be prohibitive.

The Naval Academy does recommend that parents retain the midshipman as long as possilbe.

The laws concerning insurance have changed. If you have a "Life Changing Situation" then you can be re-enrolled without worrying about pre-existing conditions. Also, you would not have to wait for "Open Enrollment".
This is why I suggest checking with your Benefit Administrator and/or Insurance company.

[Profmom2]

would advise against canceling any insurance coverage of your mid because it saves you money. Even the Academy’s paperwork strongly recommends maintaining private insurance on your mid. Although “it may be the law” the insurance carrier can require proof of insurability or there is an illness our insurance requires a one year wait before being added back onto the policy. From the moment of discharge from USNA until fulltime enrollment with paid tuition there would be a period of no coverage. If something would happen in that time frame it would affect your child financially - and probably you – for a very long time.

As USNA69 pointed out there is no Cobra for leaving a SA.

[USNA69]

This is why I suggest checking with your Benefit Administrator and/or Insurance company.

Great advice.

[Just_A_Mom]

You are all correct - no COBRA for leaving an SA.
Allow me to qualify:
The ONLY reason I offered my "advice" on this one is that health insurance is extremely expensive - I am extremely fortunate that my plan is very inexpensive and I would cover my child at no extra cost (family plan).
Some people pay hundreds of dollars each month for group insurance by their employer. Consider the case of a parent who pays a lot for insurance. If they cancel their child their plan moves from family to 2-party or 2-party to single.
They do the math and can save several hundred $$/month by canceling their child off their insurance. Anyone in this situation should consider carefully their options and consult with their benefit administrator.

[KP82/10]

I realize that this thread is mostly about health insurance but reading through the whole thread the post about tax deduction caught my eye. Why can't you claim your Mid as a tax deduction after the first year? They are still dependent on you for paying fees, sending them spending money, they come live with you on breaks, paying plane fare, paying for the cell phone bill, paying for insurance on their car while it sits in the driveway, paying for their tightie whities.....:smile:

[USNA69]

Check with your tax expert but my understanding is that you have to provide more than 50% of the support in order for them to qualify as a dependent.

[jamzmom]

Heh... Love your avatar. :wink: Glad you signed on here. It'll help busy up the KP threads!

Well... Heres the thing I was told. (disclaimer: I am not a tax professional & don't play one on the internet) The other academies operate differently in that their kids are paid those stipends. Since our kids do not receive this stipend, its a little different in our cases. KP kids are paid below the minimums while at sea as well. Our CPA claims our KP kid on our taxes & will until graduation. Other KP parents have advised & done the same all four years. There was much controversary over this the last few years and folks don't take what I do as concrete.

[bossf51]

Taxes: The 50% rule is key. The kids at the academies get paid around $9k a year. They get just about everything else paid for(food, shelter, tuition etc). We parents no longer pay over 50% of their support so we can't claim them. Simple as that.:eek:

Insurance:If it's not an extra expense...KEEP THEM ON YOUR POLICY. Tricare is good but not always convenient and doesn't always cover things as visits to your family chiropractor(when home on leave, just giving this as an example). So keep them on.:shake:

[Profmom2]

Our tax attorney also has pointed out in the tax code where it is possible to claim for the 4 years.

As not either an accountant or an attorney I will not offer opinion but everyone should make sure this question is asked to the correct individual and then follow what is advised for their sistuation and only their situation.:smile:

[jamzmom]

9K! :wow: I like it! Shoulda made my brat go there. LOL (joking...) Kp kids will 50 buck ya to death!

Truly, just check with a tax professional on this to be safe.

[RetNavyHM]

Even though USNA69 answered Zaphod's question about VA I'll expound a little on that as well as the insurance aspect. Midshipmen/Cadets who are medically dis-enrolled from an academy are not eligible for VA care or disability. Not sure exactly what this falls under, but it’s there.

As for the insurance, having had to play w/Tricare with Midshipmen when it was first rolled out, there was/is a lot of confusion by the Midshipmen (I don't know if its covered a little more clearly now in briefings or not) about how they go about getting civilian medical care if injured while at home on vacation/leave. These are smart kids (that’s how they got to the academies in the first place) but you get them home with Mom and Dad and they tend to forget a lot of stuff :shake:. For non-emergent care (i.e. threat to life or limb) they have to contact their primary care manager (PCM) or the 24 hour nurse line (they get a card with the numbers on it, and most throw it away) to request authorization for civilian care. If it’s an emergency then they have to contact their PCM or the nurse line within 24 hours of receiving care. If not, the Midshipman/Cadet can be found responsible for the medical bills.

If a Midshipmen/Cadet is still being carried on their parents insurance, the above rules still hold true, as Tricare will pay a portion of the bill and the private insurance will pick up the rest (all coordinated through Tricare). On I/R-day the Midshipmen/Cadets are asked about private insurance. If they are still being carried, then Tricare will bill a portion of any medical care they receive at the academy to the private insurance company, again, Tricare does all the paperwork.

If I get time today I'll dig around and see what I can find about the VA thing. Something in the back of my brain says it has to do with the fact that they are not really considered on active duty, but I'll dig around some more, or if someone who has that information please post it.

[bossf51]

Given what we've seen on the news lately and based on six years of experience in dealing with veterans issues, I wouldn't want to rely on the VA.:thumbdown:

[USNA69]

My memory can sometimes not be the best. Fourteen years ago when my plebe-to-be got his package, the Academy recommended that midshipmen consider retaining their prior health coverage. I perhaps misspoke above. The site I found recently was the parents site and not an official Academy site which recommended retention of said insurance. Therefore I am not sure what the official policy is that is now being promulgated.

Boss, I just read your bio. You stated that you were in the health insurance business. If a midshipman/cadet is disenrolled due to health issues, is over the age of 19, and his parents have continued coverage on the family health policy, how long will the now-disenrolled student be covered under that policy for the existing condition? If I remember correcly, it was situations such as this that the Academy recommended continued family coverage. I scanned the HIIPA group rulings but could not find anything definite.

[bossf51]

Frankly I have been out of the health insurance loop for about five years so I'd prefer not to take a crack at that one. Some of this is dependent on state law, also on whether the employer is self-insured, etc. Best check with your individual company and/or state insurance department.

[2011's Mom]

First - everyone should check it out with your own carrier. That being said - My understanding is that if a situation changes (lost coverage for whatever reason - including no longer at the Academy) the student has 30 days to notify old carrier (that family is still covered under) and reinstate, with no questions asked. If student is not within the age limits, they may need to enroll in school someplace, a community college would do, in order to keep that coverage. Under this scenario, if timely reinstatement is requested, they cannot be turned down. If they don't make the request within the alloted timeframe, then evidence of insurability may be required. This is assuming the plan they are returning to is a group plan (presumably through your employer). If it is an individual plan all bets are off and I have no idea what regulations are in place in that scenario. Also, there may be different factors in play if it is a "small group" vs. a "large group" plan.

In our situation (not necessarily your situations!) I confirmed with our small group carrier in California that if we remove D from our plan and she goes under TriCare and then is disenrolled from the Academy (thus also disenrolled from TriCare), they WILL take her back without any limitations for preexisting issues and they WILL cover any care she needs, even if she was injured while not under the coverage. I confirmed this very specifically verbally (and just because I am like this, I wrote a letter confirming my understanding today too!).

Disclaimner - though I am in the insurance industry - this is not my area of expertise and as such I spoke to my carrier. I cannot say if this would hold true with all carriers as a result of compliance with a regulation or if it is a company policy that my carrier maintains. I would not be surprised if each state has different regulations for this issue. Our cost savings by removing D from the policy will be $332 per MONTH so I am interested in doing that!

I recommend that everyone evaluate their situation individually because there are so many variables that your situation may be very different than ours. Some variables that easily impact it are: State, Size of Group, Individual vs. Group Plan, Insurance Carrier involved, Specific Terms of the policy etc.... If there were not a significant cost impact, I would not even consider taking D off our family coverage. In our case, the cost factor is significant so it is worth it to evaluate.

Bottom line - call your carrier and find out.

[Just_A_Mom]

From http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/newsroom/fshipaa.html
The department of labor website:
HIPAA Protects Workers And Their Families By

Limiting exclusions for preexisting medical conditions (known as preexisting conditions)
Providing credit against maximum preexisting condition exclusion periods for prior health coverage and a process for providing certificates showing periods of prior coverage to a new group health plan or health insurance issuer
Providing new rights that allow individuals to enroll for health coverage when they lose other health coverage, get married or add a new dependent
Prohibiting discrimination in enrollment and in premiums charged to employees and their dependents based on health status-related factors
Guaranteeing availability of health insurance coverage for small employers and renewability of health insurance coverage for both small and large employers
Preserving the states’ role in regulating health insurance, including the states’ authority to provide greater protections than those available under federal lawPreexisting Condition Exclusions

The law defines a preexisting condition as one for which medical advice, diagnosis, care, or treatment was recommended or received during the 6-month period prior to an individual’s enrollment date (which is the earlier of the first day of health coverage or the first day of any waiting period for coverage)
Group health plans and issuers may not exclude an individual’s preexisting medical condition from coverage for more than 12 months (18 months for late enrollees) after an individual’s enrollment date
Under HIPAA, a new employer’s plan must give individuals credit for the length of time they had prior continuous health coverage, without a break in coverage of 63 days or more, thereby reducing or eliminating the 12-month exclusion period (18 months for late enrollees)Your state may have a stronger law than HIPAA - the age limits of dependents vary according to state law and your policy.
This is the law that allows you to add your child BACK to your insurance if needed and within the age guidelines of your policy. Pre-existing conditions should not be a problem since your child had credible coverage.