Health insurance after graduation

After school has ended, most students worry about what grad school they'll attend or whether they will successfully join the workforce. Worse yet, coupled with the ending of school comes the inevitable end to many students' health insurance.

Many students are kept on their parents' health insurance until they are 21 or 22 years old. In recent years, however, many insurance policies have adjusted the age at which students will no longer receive coverage from 21 to 19 years old, oftentimes disregarding whether the person is a student or not, according Catherine Engelhardt-Ellis, the director of SBI Student Medical Insurance Programs.

Engelhardt-Ellis went on to say that not being covered by some kind of health insurance, whether it is through their parents or one's university, is a big risk to take.

"There are many risks that come with not having medical insurance," Engelhardt-Ellis said. "The most devastating though is when students go without medical treatment or medication because they don't have the money to pay for care or insurance to cover it."

Students run the risk of steeper financial obligations when uninsured than if they paid for private health insurance or were insured through programs like Healthy New York, which is offered to small companies or individuals living without health insurance.

As for those students who go without health insurance after graduation, the risk of needing medical care in the future also goes hand-in-hand with the risk of bankruptcy due to medical bills exceeding income, according to Engelhardt-Ellis.

Engelhardt-Ellis said that students who are covered through the health insurance offered by UB are covered until August 21 of the year they graduate. This gives graduated students enough time to let benefits from their new employer kick in, or to find alternative health insurance through a private company that they can afford.

UB also offers information on their Web site for students who are graduating or are in need of health insurance, through the Chickering Group called "Navigate Your Health Insurance for Dummies - a Reference for the Rest of Us!" which provides useful information for graduating students on health insurance. It gives tips on family health coverage as well, Engelhardt-Ellis said.

Mike Robinson, a junior mechanical engineering major, went without medical insurance after taking a year off from school so he could make enough money to pay for tuition. He wasn't covered by his parents' health insurance because he wasn't a student and didn't get benefits from his job.

"I've been without health insurance before because I took time off from school," Robinson said. "It definitely makes you nervous; I tried really hard not to get hurt. Now that I'm back in school though, my parents' insurance covers me again until I'm 21 or finish college."

According to Engelhardt-Ellis, most employers who cover college students until graduation stop covering them until the end of the month in which graduation occurs.

While most students don't start thinking about the loss of their health insurance coverage until a couple months before graduation, Engelhardt-Ellis warns that may be too late to make sure there are no gaps in their coverage or that they don't go without any coverage at all.

Priy Ankasharma, a sophomore philosophy and pre-med major, hasn't given any thought to what she will do for health insurance after graduation since it's still at least a couple of years away.

According to Ankasharma, she hopes to land a good job after graduating that will offer benefits, so that she will still be covered after her parent's health insurance runs out.

"Students should start making inquiries about their health insurance coverage as early as the December before they graduate," Engelhardt-Ellis said. "Winter break is the ideal time to start making phone calls and to start making sure you know the details of your coverage."

Since most plans need about 90 days before their coverage goes into affect, students who don't have a plan by the middle of March can end up with a gap or no health insurance coverage at all, according to Engelhardt-Ellis.

After graduation, George Bochenek, a senior computer sciences major, plans on getting a job that has benefits to ensure that he has sufficient health insurance coverage, since his parents' health insurance covers him until he graduates.

"I'm banking on getting a job that offers health insurance after I graduate so I won't have to worry about it," Bochenek said. "If I don't get a job right away after I graduate then I would try and get health insurance through a private provider just in case of injury. It'd be cheaper in the end to pay a little each month for coverage rather than a lump sum because I wasn't covered and got hurt."