Health Insurance While in Med School?

[gfx82]

I’m in need of some advice from those who have gone through or are going through medical school with family obligations (wife/children). I am married with three children (5yo, 4yo, 16mos) and plan to apply to medical school in 2 years, obviously after taking the MCAT, fulfilling the prerequisites, and getting accepted.
My youngest son was diagnosed with non-genetic unilateral retinoblastoma a year and a half ago. He had his left eye enucleated and went through 6 rounds of chemo. My wife will have her BSN by that point and plans to work part-time to bring some money into the home.
What are the options for family health insurance while attending medical school? The likelihood of my son getting sick again is small, but I want to be safe and have this planned out.
I appreciate any comments or advice in advance.

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[dotdash]

Our experience was that paying the medschool's family rate for their coverage was more expensive (and had worse coverage) than buying an individual policy directly from an insurer. (We did one year of each after COBRA ran out.) That said, our kids were very healthy during that time, so we didn't test either policy much -- just routine stuff. I'm guessing your wife can do much better as an employee carrying the kids as her dependents. Or, if you live in a state where so-called "catastrophic insurance" is legal, that might be a cost-effective option. Covers the bad bad news; for the rest, you pay as you go.

 

[DitchDoc73]

I’m in need of some advice from those who have gone through or are going through medical school with family obligations (wife/children). I am married with three children (5yo, 4yo, 16mos) and plan to apply to medical school in 2 years, obviously after taking the MCAT, fulfilling the prerequisites, and getting accepted.
My youngest son was diagnosed with non-genetic unilateral retinoblastoma a year and a half ago. He had his left eye enucleated and went through 6 rounds of chemo. My wife will have her BSN by that point and plans to work part-time to bring some money into the home.
What are the options for family health insurance while attending medical school? The likelihood of my son getting sick again is small, but I want to be safe and have this planned out.
I appreciate any comments or advice in advance.

Med school insurance varies widely from school to school. Some schools have bad insurance, while others have very good insurance. It was not cheap to cover the family at my school, but it wasn't any cheaper to go with a personal policy in my case. My schools policy even covers pre-existing conditions (immediately with proof / waiver showing that the condition has been continuously covered under previous insurance policies for at least 1 year, or after a 6 month waiting period if the pre-existing condition was not being cared for under an insurance policy for a time period).

 

[Nevadanteater]

Our experience was that paying the medschool's family rate for their coverage was more expensive (and had worse coverage) than buying an individual policy directly from an insurer. (We did one year of each after COBRA ran out.) That said, our kids were very healthy during that time, so we didn't test either policy much -- just routine stuff. I'm guessing your wife can do much better as an employee carrying the kids as her dependents. Or, if you live in a state where so-called "catastrophic insurance" is legal, that might be a cost-effective option. Covers the bad bad news; for the rest, you pay as you go.

When you are applying (actually, before you apply), you should ask all of the medical schools you are considering for information about about their insurance policies. They do vary from school to school and depending on your medical needs, could definitely make a huge difference in your opinion about specific schools. Also, schools will provide this information, you just need to ask.

The school I'm about to start at does offer coverage for partners and children, but it is EXPENSIVE.

 

[rbnsafsadgf]

Health care reform will help you a bit: "a ban on 'pre-existing condition exclusions' for children under 19 [will] take effect in September." (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/31/health/policy/31health.html) So, at least they can't exclude your kid.

Many med schools require you to purchase their insurance, unless you can show proof of comparable insurance (and then get a "waiver"). However, the quality of the school insurance really seems to vary. Furthermore, some schools require you to purchase insurance even if you have other insurance. Even worse, the costs of the school insurance varies widely (e.g., $1k/yr for a single persons at one school, to $3k for the same at another school I was accepted at).

Some school clinics will see spouses for free too.

So, it seems like there is no one best answers, but rather you'll have to look at each school specifically and compare them to your other options. And don't forget about SCHIP from your state as an option if you qualify.

 

[gfx82]

I greatly appreciate everyone's responses. This will give me a starting point when I cross the bridge. I'm currently living in Georgia and my med school choices are Duke, Emory, UNC, MCG, and Mercer ... again I'll wait till I'm accepted and compare school/private insurance options.

 

[TheMan21]

For those of you who have families and did opt to cover them under your school's policy, how did you handle the expense? At my school, covering myself, my wife, and my daughter will cost 12k/year. Did you take out extra loans? Taking out an extra 50k just for insurance seems like madness...

 

[DitchDoc73]

For those of you who have families and did opt to cover them under your school's policy, how did you handle the expense? At my school, covering myself, my wife, and my daughter will cost 12k/year. Did you take out extra loans? Taking out an extra 50k just for insurance seems like madness...

I will be taking out loans, but we hope that my wife will get a job in my 2nd or 3rd year that has insurance to help reduce costs...

 

[radiodoc99]

I’m in need of some advice from those who have gone through or are going through medical school with family obligations (wife/children). I am married with three children (5yo, 4yo, 16mos) and plan to apply to medical school in 2 years, obviously after taking the MCAT, fulfilling the prerequisites, and getting accepted.
My youngest son was diagnosed with non-genetic unilateral retinoblastoma a year and a half ago. He had his left eye enucleated and went through 6 rounds of chemo. My wife will have her BSN by that point and plans to work part-time to bring some money into the home.
What are the options for family health insurance while attending medical school? The likelihood of my son getting sick again is small, but I want to be safe and have this planned out.
I appreciate any comments or advice in advance.

Try this:
http://www.ehealthinsurance.com/ to get quotes. The school rate is probably cheapest because of bulk buys. You will need to pay for it either way.

 

[NTF]

With that many kids and only a part-time income, I'd imagine in any state your children would qualify for medicaid. Your wife may or may not qualify, but if she's reasonably healthy she could probably find a reasonably priced high deductible plan.

 

[gfx82]

With that many kids and only a part-time income, I'd imagine in any state your children would qualify for medicaid. Your wife may or may not qualify, but if she's reasonably healthy she could probably find a reasonably priced high deductible plan.

I didn't think of the Medicaid option - probably because I make above a 100K now. I was prior service Army and I'm looking at options to rejoin the Army Reserves. They will pay for all med school expenses, pay a stipend around $1950 a month, and you're eligible for Tricare Health insurance (not as good as what I have now though).

Any thoughts?

 

[ftrflyr29]

I didn't think of the Medicaid option - probably because I make above a 100K now. I was prior service Army and I'm looking at options to rejoin the Army Reserves. They will pay for all med school expenses, pay a stipend around $1950 a month, and you're eligible for Tricare Health insurance (not as good as what I have now though).

Any thoughts?

I'm AD now and have looked into Tricare Reserve Select for while I'm in school. It's ~$197/mo for a family and I think it's then an 80/20 plan with caps for various things. I have some friends that have civilian jobs and are reservists and choose to use the Tricare Reserve Select as their children have many recurring, expensive prescriptions to fill and it is worth it. Definitely check it out. Depending on where you attend school, you and your family will typically see health professionals in the civilian world that accept Tricare, so if you can find a provider that you like, it's not a half bad thing. You can look up the specifics on the internet. Good luck!

 

[mzblue]

Some hospitals have the bayada program where you can work 2 days on weekends and get paid for40hrs plus benefits. My friend works friday and sunday nights. I know some who work friday and saturday nights. Your wife can do that and in that case, you don't have to worry about insurance. The only thing with these programs is that most require 2years of experience, some require one and i know people who've gotten with just 6months under their belt. It depends on the hospital. with the current economy, some hospitals have stopped it but there are still some that offer that 2day option. The downside is you sacrifice your weekend. I think you have to work at least 3/4 weekends. For some hospitals, you can only have 3 weekends off, not including vacation. Nurses who do it do it because their husbands are home to take care of their kids on the weekends and they don't have to get off work and prep the kids for school.

That's an option you can consider. Hopefully, the economy gets better for nursing because right now, i know grads who can't get jobs. There's been a nursing a nursing glut in parts of the east coast since 2008.

I’m in need of some advice from those who have gone through or are going through medical school with family obligations (wife/children). I am married with three children (5yo, 4yo, 16mos) and plan to apply to medical school in 2 years, obviously after taking the MCAT, fulfilling the prerequisites, and getting accepted.
My youngest son was diagnosed with non-genetic unilateral retinoblastoma a year and a half ago. He had his left eye enucleated and went through 6 rounds of chemo. My wife will have her BSN by that point and plans to work part-time to bring some money into the home.
What are the options for family health insurance while attending medical school? The likelihood of my son getting sick again is small, but I want to be safe and have this planned out.
I appreciate any comments or advice in advance.

 

[ELECTROLITE80]

Med school insurance varies widely from school to school. Some schools have bad insurance, while others have very good insurance. It was not cheap to cover the family at my school, but it wasn't any cheaper to go with a personal policy in my case. My schools policy even covers pre-existing conditions (immediately with proof / waiver showing that the condition has been continuously covered under previous insurance policies for at least 1 year, or after a 6 month waiting period if the pre-existing condition was not being cared for under an insurance policy for a time period).

I have RA and will be starting med school in 2014, by then I should be able to get insurance with no problem, but I like to be prepared, how can I find out which schools insurance will cover people with a pre-existing. I know I could be married by then or have no longer be denied, but I'd like to be safe and have a list of schools that know if I'm accepted, I won't have a problem getting insurance or have a waiting period of a year. I don't intend on letting my insurance lapse, but it would be nice to know if I can find this information. Thanks!