Insurance Question

USMILITARY123

Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2016
Messages
18
Hello everyone,

I have a few questions to ask regarding insurance.

As a mid are you required to pay an insurance premium for medical and dental? If you are injured during plebe summer do you get dropped from the class and do you pay out of pocket for any medical expenses? Once I leave should my parents drop me from their health insurance?

As well, I have read that mids aren't allowed cars until 2nd/1st class years. What do you do for car insurance? Does usaa offer a lower rate so I can be covered only on leave periods without paying every month when I won't even be driving? I currently have a car and am planning on storing it in my home state until I can move my car.

Sorry if these are dumb questions. My parents aren't very involved, and I'm trying to keep all of my finances in check. Thank you!!!
 
Hello everyone,

I have a few questions to ask regarding insurance.

As a mid are you required to pay an insurance premium for medical and dental? If you are injured during plebe summer do you get dropped from the class and do you pay out of pocket for any medical expenses? Once I leave should my parents drop me from their health insurance?

As well, I have read that mids aren't allowed cars until 2nd/1st class years. What do you do for car insurance? Does usaa offer a lower rate so I can be covered only on leave periods without paying every month when I won't even be driving? I currently have a car and am planning on storing it in my home state until I can move my car.

Sorry if these are dumb questions. My parents aren't very involved, and I'm trying to keep all of my finances in check. Thank you!!!
Think these are great questions, I am also curious as to keep my son on our health & car insurance plan??
 
Great questions, USMILITARY123. These are things that I am starting to investigate for my potential 2020 Mid (noms received, hoping for appointment). While I do not have answers at this time, I will be sure to come back here and share what I find out. I want to commend you on your desire to be proactive about these matters. I will help however I can and will bring back answers when I have them. Good luck!
 
I read prior post saying to keep your child on your health insurance incase they have to leave SA for injury or medical reasons, however we don't hv employee health insurance, we buy from healthcare market privately paying over $850month with high deductibles (cheapest & bad plan), DS off insurance can save family $?
 
Lots of questions here. Will answer the ones I can with best info I have.

Med/dental insurance. Mids are active duty, so are covered 100% by TRICARE Prime. No premium.
That said, many mids also remain on family plan until they are well-launched at USNA, just in case they leave voluntarily or involuntarily. Sometimes you can be added back to family plan, sometimes not. There are some threads on here about med insurance.

Auto insurance. If the car is in your name, and you have a USAA insurance policy on it, it is a matter of updating your status to USNA midshipman, which is an active duty, pre-Comm, Service Academy status. Your auto rate will reflect the limited driving you do as a mid. Simply call them or stop into the USAA office at 125 Prince George St., outside Gate 1. They have been talking to mids and cadets on the phone about auto insurance since the 20th century. On the days before I-Day, that office is filled with Plebes-To-Be sorting out auto insurance. Bring your appointment letter. M-F 8:30-5. Sat:10-3.

If it's your parents who have the USAA policy, all they have to do is call or stop in. They will no longer have to pay that portion of the premium that covers you, once you are at one of the 5 SAs. It's not an "away-at-college" discount. USAA makes you a non-operator, covered as an occasional driver. Perfect for those first few years when you don't have a car in your possession at USNA. Then most mids have a car and policy in their name.

If you have a car, in storage or not, with active registration, your state will require year-round insurance. No stop-start. USAA will figure this out with you, as military folks have been storing cars since...the 20th century. They will drop various coverages as low as they can.

Many mids choose not to bring a car until 1/c year, or spring semester 2/c year. As a 2/c, you have to park it off-Yard. Depending on what you arrange for that, it may cost money. You will have plenty of friends with cars. Lots of time to figure that out.

For appointees, you become eligible for USAA coverage on I-Day. With an appointment letter, you can visit the USAA office before I-Day and learn what USAA offers midshipmen and cadets.

EDIT: Google: "USAA Service Academy Midshipmen and Cadets." I couldn't get the right link copied for this landing page.


There are many threads about USAA on here, an association which serves active duty, Guard, Reserve and vets with financial services. I worked for them until 2015 but have been a member since my ensign days. In general, a good company.
 
Last edited:
Lots of questions here. Will answer the ones I can with best info I have.

Med/dental insurance. Mids are active duty, so are covered 100% by TRICARE Prime. No premium.
That said, many mids also remain on family plan until they are well-launched at USNA, just in case they leave voluntarily or involuntarily. Sometimes you can be added back to family plan, sometimes not. There are some threads on here about med insurance.

Auto insurance. If the car is in your name, and you have a USAA insurance policy on it, it is a matter of updating your status to USNA midshipman, which is an active duty, pre-Comm, Service Academy status. Your auto rate will reflect the limited driving you do as a mid. Simply call them or stop into the USAA office at 125 Prince George St., outside Gate 1. They have been talking to mids and cadets on the phone about auto insurance since the 20th century.
If it's your parents who have the USAA policy, all they have to do is call or stop in. They will no longer have to pay that portion of the premium that covers you, once you are at one of the 5 SAs. It's not an "away-at-college" discount. USAA makes you a non-operator, covered as an occasional driver. Perfect for those first few years when you don't have a car in your possession at USNA. Then most mids have a car and policy in their name.

If you have a car, in storage or not, with active registration, your state will require year-round insurance. No stop-start. USAA will figure this out with you, as military folks have been storing cars since...the 20th century.

Many mids choose not to bring a car until 1/c year, or spring semester 2/c year. As a 2/c, you have to park it off-Yard. Depending on what you arrange for that, it may cost money. You will have plenty of friends with cars. Lots of time to figure that out.
Thank you for great info. With Tricare prime health insurance can Mids see regular Doctors? Say he gets sick or injured while home can I take him to our family Doctor or local hospital? Do I have to take him to military hospital??
 
I read prior post saying to keep your child on your health insurance incase they have to leave SA for injury or medical reasons, however we don't hv employee health insurance, we buy from healthcare market privately paying over $850month with high deductibles (cheapest & bad plan), DS off insurance can save family $?

@Blessedmom
If you are purchasing insurance on the ACA and it can save you money to drop your DS while he goes on Tricare, I would strongly consider it, depending on the savings. In the event of a catastrophic loss of coverage through Tricare, this would normally be a qualifying event that would allow you to add DS back on your ACA policy once Tricare drops him.

For many folks who have employer provided health insurance, it is very inexpensive, if not free to keep your mid/cadet on your plan, so it makes sense to double-cover.

Wearing both suspenders and a belt is helpful if it is affordable, but most folks could be saving the funds for other purposes.
 
About health insurance from Parents of USNA Midshipmen http://www.usna-parents.org/faq.html about 1/2 way down.

Q: But should I keep my student on our insurance policy since every Mid is covered by tricare?
A: (Direct from Capt Michael Waters, JAGC)
IT IS IMPORTANT THAT WE ALL KEEP OUR MIDN ON OUR PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE. I cannot overemphasize this point. The reason is complicated for many reasons, but boils down to this: every year, as you all are well aware, we find MIDN that develop some serious illnesses--illnesses that disqualify them medically from commissioning. If that occurs and a MIDN is disenrolled from USNA and discharged from the Navy, he/she IS NOT ENTITLED to disability compensation (as are active duty Sailors and Marrines) and will have no Navy medical benefits and may only be able to use the VA. VA has great services, but they are hard to access. So an uninsured son/daughter with a serious illness could prove financially devastating.

If you look in your MIDN's original USNA acceptance and information package, the Academy recommends you retain your private insurance. So my advice is that, unless the cost is very prohibitive, you should not remove your MIDN from your coverage. The DoD is working on legislation that will help our MIDN--but what I have seen will only provide pennies on the dollar for the cost of caring for the treatment of such illnesses.

Now I know our MID's all think they are indestructible; and we all know the chances of our MIDN developing such disorders as Crohn's, diabetes, or any form of cancer are slim--the fact is that just such an occurrence happens 6-8 times each year. Bottom line: It is near impossible to have coverage started when such conditions are already diagnosed. So keep your family coverage.

This information is probably dated. See @gokings814 post below.
 
Last edited:
About health insurance from Parents of USNA Midshipmen http://www.usna-parents.org/faq.html about 1/2 way down.

Q: But should I keep my student on our insurance policy since every Mid is covered by tricare?
A: (Direct from Capt Michael Waters, JAGC)
IT IS IMPORTANT THAT WE ALL KEEP OUR MIDN ON OUR PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE. I cannot overemphasize this point. The reason is complicated for many reasons, but boils down to this: every year, as you all are well aware, we find MIDN that develop some serious illnesses--illnesses that disqualify them medically from commissioning. If that occurs and a MIDN is disenrolled from USNA and discharged from the Navy, he/she IS NOT ENTITLED to disability compensation (as are active duty Sailors and Marrines) and will have no Navy medical benefits and may only be able to use the VA. VA has great services, but they are hard to access. So an uninsured son/daughter with a serious illness could prove financially devastating.

If you look in your MIDN's original USNA acceptance and information package, the Academy recommends you retain your private insurance. So my advice is that, unless the cost is very prohibitive, you should not remove your MIDN from your coverage. The DoD is working on legislation that will help our MIDN--but what I have seen will only provide pennies on the dollar for the cost of caring for the treatment of such illnesses.

Now I know our MID's all think they are indestructible; and we all know the chances of our MIDN developing such disorders as Crohn's, diabetes, or any form of cancer are slim--the fact is that just such an occurrence happens 6-8 times each year. Bottom line: It is near impossible to have coverage started when such conditions are already diagnosed. So keep your family coverage.


The above was likely written well before the ACA eliminated pre-existing conditions from insurance.
 
Your mid will get plenty of briefs on TRICARE Prime and how it works while away from USNA. Their ID card, the CAC card, is their proof of insurance. For emergency or urgent care, if a military treatment facility is not reasonably available, they present the CAC, and call the TRICARE number as soon as they can to report the care and get a case number started. They will owe nothing out of pocket. Routine care, they are expected to use in-network military facilities and pre-approved referrals, works like an HMO.
We just had a sponsor daughter break her collarbone while in Colorado skiing over the holidays, and her CAC card did the magic for her surgery and care.
 
Again, I agree with retaining duplicate insurance if it is affordable. If not, there should be no problem adding him/her back on upon separation from the SA or XROTC program as this is considered a qualifying event. You are allowed to retain your dependent on your insurance until the dependent reaches age 26.

Here is more info on the young adult coverage for the ACA.
http://www.hhs.gov/healthcare/about-the-law/young-adult-coverage/index.html
 
Lots of questions here. Will answer the ones I can with best info I have.

Med/dental insurance. Mids are active duty, so are covered 100% by TRICARE Prime. No premium.
That said, many mids also remain on family plan until they are well-launched at USNA, just in case they leave voluntarily or involuntarily. Sometimes you can be added back to family plan, sometimes not. There are some threads on here about med insurance.

Auto insurance. If the car is in your name, and you have a USAA insurance policy on it, it is a matter of updating your status to USNA midshipman, which is an active duty, pre-Comm, Service Academy status. Your auto rate will reflect the limited driving you do as a mid. Simply call them or stop into the USAA office at 125 Prince George St., outside Gate 1. They have been talking to mids and cadets on the phone about auto insurance since the 20th century. On the days before I-Day, that office is filled with Plebes-To-Be sorting out auto insurance. Bring your appointment letter. M-F 8:30-5. Sat:10-3.

If it's your parents who have the USAA policy, all they have to do is call or stop in. They will no longer have to pay that portion of the premium that covers you, once you are at one of the 5 SAs. It's not an "away-at-college" discount. USAA makes you a non-operator, covered as an occasional driver. Perfect for those first few years when you don't have a car in your possession at USNA. Then most mids have a car and policy in their name.

If you have a car, in storage or not, with active registration, your state will require year-round insurance. No stop-start. USAA will figure this out with you, as military folks have been storing cars since...the 20th century. They will drop various coverages as low as they can.

Many mids choose not to bring a car until 1/c year, or spring semester 2/c year. As a 2/c, you have to park it off-Yard. Depending on what you arrange for that, it may cost money. You will have plenty of friends with cars. Lots of time to figure that out.

For appointees, you become eligible for USAA coverage on I-Day. With an appointment letter, you can visit the USAA office before I-Day and learn what USAA offers midshipmen and cadets.

EDIT: Google: "USAA Service Academy Midshipmen and Cadets." I couldn't get the right link copied for this landing page.


There are many threads about USAA on here, an association which serves active duty, Guard, Reserve and vets with financial services. I worked for them until 2015 but have been a member since my ensign days. In general, a good company.



Thank you very much for the advice. I'm sure this question is around here, but in the current day is it smartest for a mid to open an account through USAA and NFCU? NFCU doesn't offer insurance like USAA which I would need; however, is NFCU easier to access at the academy? Ex. If I need to pull money from either account can I do this without leaving campus as a midshipman? Or if I need to get checks, send money home to my family, etc. can this all be done from the Academy?

Sorry for the extent of the questions. I'm honestly stressing over all of the "adult" aspects of leaving home.
Thank you.
 
You will have an application for NFCU in your Permit to Report package. They have a branch next to Bancroft Hall, and two ATM locations on Yard. Many mids start with them, switch to USAA, or keep both. I have used USAA and NFCU since I was an ensign.

With USAA, you can use any ATM, any Bank or CU, anywhere, and get those transaction fees reimbursed by USAA into your account, up to $15/month (as I recall).

Both USAA and NFCU offer sophisticated mobile banking apps on the phone, or you can go online to transfer money.

You won't go wrong either way.

If you want to go USAA or any other Bank, on I-Day, you have to bring something with you that shows account number and bank routing number, all those numbers on a paper check.
 
Lots of questions here. Will answer the ones I can with best info I have.

Med/dental insurance. Mids are active duty, so are covered 100% by TRICARE Prime. No premium.
That said, many mids also remain on family plan until they are well-launched at USNA, just in case they leave voluntarily or involuntarily. Sometimes you can be added back to family plan, sometimes not. There are some threads on here about med insurance.

Auto insurance. If the car is in your name, and you have a USAA insurance policy on it, it is a matter of updating your status to USNA midshipman, which is an active duty, pre-Comm, Service Academy status. Your auto rate will reflect the limited driving you do as a mid. Simply call them or stop into the USAA office at 125 Prince George St., outside Gate 1. They have been talking to mids and cadets on the phone about auto insurance since the 20th century. On the days before I-Day, that office is filled with Plebes-To-Be sorting out auto insurance. Bring your appointment letter. M-F 8:30-5. Sat:10-3.

If it's your parents who have the USAA policy, all they have to do is call or stop in. They will no longer have to pay that portion of the premium that covers you, once you are at one of the 5 SAs. It's not an "away-at-college" discount. USAA makes you a non-operator, covered as an occasional driver. Perfect for those first few years when you don't have a car in your possession at USNA. Then most mids have a car and policy in their name.

If you have a car, in storage or not, with active registration, your state will require year-round insurance. No stop-start. USAA will figure this out with you, as military folks have been storing cars since...the 20th century. They will drop various coverages as low as they can.

Many mids choose not to bring a car until 1/c year, or spring semester 2/c year. As a 2/c, you have to park it off-Yard. Depending on what you arrange for that, it may cost money. You will have plenty of friends with cars. Lots of time to figure that out.

For appointees, you become eligible for USAA coverage on I-Day. With an appointment letter, you can visit the USAA office before I-Day and learn what USAA offers midshipmen and cadets.

EDIT: Google: "USAA Service Academy Midshipmen and Cadets." I couldn't get the right link copied for this landing page.


There are many threads about USAA on here, an association which serves active duty, Guard, Reserve and vets with financial services. I worked for them until 2015 but have been a member since my ensign days. In general, a good company.
Thank you!! Great information and advice.
 
Most Mids will use NFCU, especially as Plebes, because the ATM and bank are right there on the yard. To be totally honest, most of us end up with both, USAA and NFCU when we graduate and most of us still have both just as Capt MJ has done. Its not uncommon, both offer great services, most of my stuff is USAA, but I do have NFCU accounts and usually get better rates on car loans from them. But, things always change.
 
I read prior post saying to keep your child on your health insurance incase they have to leave SA for injury or medical reasons, however we don't hv employee health insurance, we buy from healthcare market privately paying over $850month with high deductibles (cheapest & bad plan), DS off insurance can save family $?
Blessedmom, I assume by your post name that you are religious, probably Christian. If that assumption is correct - drop that lousy, expensive policy and go to one of the non profit Christian plans, such as Christian Medi-Share. Your payments will be significantly less, and your deductible will drop to $2,500 for the family, not per person. There are other plans with different deductibles.

There are other programs like medishare, each has their own program. Check it out. You have to be a member of a church, don't smoke at all or drink to excess, etc. check it out, it's a great deal.
 
Blessedmom, I assume by your post name that you are religious, probably Christian. If that assumption is correct - drop that lousy, expensive policy and go to one of the non profit Christian plans, such as Christian Medi-Share. Your payments will be significantly less, and your deductible will drop to $2,500 for the family, not per person. There are other plans with different deductibles.

There are other programs like medishare, each has their own program. Check it out. You have to be a member of a church, don't smoke at all or drink to excess, etc. check it out, it's a great deal.
Thank you so much, yes we belong to Presbyterian church, will look into Christian health plans. Think it is open enrollment time. My husband took job out of country so had to purchase through ACA, awful insurance & experience.
 
Not necessarily, there are open enrollment periods, plus the time it takes to get bound.
Before a student is dropped from Tricare insurance don't he/she get up to 3 months on Cobra like most health insurance?? That would give parents enough time to get child back on their plan?? Think it take a month or two to get on an insurance plan if you can show proof of losing prior coverage?
 
Not necessarily, there are open enrollment periods, plus the time it takes to get bound.

Losing his/her insurance after leaving a service academy is an ACA qualifying event so open enrollment would not apply.
 
Back
Top