Health Insurance

[ssllpp]

I was wondering what other people are doing for health insurance during their Master's program. I realize a lot of people might be young enough to be on their parents' plans still, but for those of us who aren't... It seems to be about $2,300/year through my school, or $4,600 for my husband and I. I've had health insurance through my job the last 5 years and have no idea how much it normally costs. Just wondering if anyone else is going through this right now as I'm starting to research what our best option is.

[Pjeak]

If you can get an assistantship that would be best. You would be considered an employee of the school and have insurance through them.

[thespeechblog.com]

Maybe you can look and see if you qualify for Medicaid or another program like it in your state 

[Chai Tea Latte]

My school has a partnership with Academic Health Plans (I think), so I got mine through that avenue. It's $150/month ($1660 for the year) and included in my cost of attendance, so some of that student loan money will go towards paying it.

Edited July 24, 2017 by Chai Tea Latte

[TakeruK]

6 hours ago, ssllpp said:

I was wondering what other people are doing for health insurance during their Master's program. I realize a lot of people might be young enough to be on their parents' plans still, but for those of us who aren't... It seems to be about $2,300/year through my school, or $4,600 for my husband and I. I've had health insurance through my job the last 5 years and have no idea how much it normally costs. Just wondering if anyone else is going through this right now as I'm starting to research what our best option is.

$2300 per year is pretty good in California. But I guess it depends on your coverage from this plan. The "Silver" plan from the California marketplace has been around $250 per month for a single person, which is about $3000 per year.

But like others said, check out state provided aid, especially for your husband (unless he has a school or work program that covers him as well). Sometimes you can't get the state aid for marketplace plans if your school or work provides a subsidized program already. 

In my first year in California, there was no ACA and insurance companies denied my spouse coverage due to pre-existing conditions. We had to have coverage for both of us to satisfy our foreign student status, so the only option was the school provided plan for both of us. The school provided plan was subsidized for me and only cost $500 per year (full cost was $3000 per year). For my spouse, the cost to add a dependent was $7200 per year (After demonstrating financial hardship due to this, I got extra financial aid to cover this extreme cost). Also, this was before the ACA rule that schools/employers cannot charge a dependent more than the primary insured took effect. So, hopefully, with the current ACA rules, no one else had to be in the same situation as we were in! 

[Crimson Wife]

That's actually a really good price. We're paying for 1 month of COBRA coverage due to a job change and the cost for 2 adults with no kids would be $1330 per MONTH. When you've got employer-based coverage you don't realize how much of the premium the employer actually picks up.

[SpeechGal1234]

This was a big question for me, too. It is so expensive! I qualified for Medicaid. 

[Auuudriana]

I get it through school because it's cheaper than my job's. It's only around $1200 per year.

[amy.will]

I'm trying to pay for mine with a PLUS loan. I contacted the financial aid department and they gave me an "actual cost of attendance" form, which I'll submit along with documentation of my additional cost of my health insurance. I'm planning on buying a BCBS silver plan off the exchange for about $250/month, but that's because I have ongoing health issues...a catastrophic plan would be quite a bit cheaper. Medicaid is an option in some states. I didn't qualify in Idaho. 

I've been pretty frustrated with this situation, actually. My university doesn't offer health insurance to students and yet also requires that they have it....their advice to me was basically "Be under 26!" Thanks, direct me to your time machine, please.