Is he a student?

Can he get a job that covers him?

Are you carrying coverage through your employer? If so he should be able to COBRA coverage.

I don't know what COBRA coverage is. Do you have to apply for that before the insurance company drops you?

Is he still a student?

Is there a reason why he can't provide for his own insurance through employment? Quite often, dependant coverage under a parents plan costs more than the single coverage for an individual under a group plan. He needs to be responsible for his own expenses at his age.

While it is true that young people have more accidents than older ones, they usually have no need for medical insurance. They just don't get sick enough. The deductable is usually not even used up.

Medical Insurance savings plans that can be set up with your bank, I think. The regular amount is deposited each month to be used only for medical expenses. For most, this is a reasonable way to go. It costs whatever you want and the savings accumulate. Of course, you are betting that he is not going to have a bad accident. Accidents happen. If if does, then the money that would have gone into the savings account or to premiums is paid to the doctors or hospital.

It's funny that people think nothing of paying out $30,000 for a new car, but panic at the thought of a $10,000 hospital bill. You pay it off the same way. Monthly payments. I am not saying that you are like that, merely a thought as to how a lot of people feel about medical insurance. It isn't a got-to-have thing.

Nancy, I went back and read what I just posted. I should have read it before I hit "enter"

I am NOT saying, don't get insurance. what I meant was, if the premiums are a problem, then, don't sweat it. He should have some sort of insurance, true, but at his age, unless he has health problems, it's not absolutely essential. Group insurance through employment is the way to go. If he can't get that, try for something else.

Blue Cross offers good individual polices. See what they can come up with. Get the largest deductable with minimum benefits. Some polices cost so much because they pay for all sorts of things that the average person will never need. For example, prescription drug coverage sounds nice, but if you multipy what it covers each month and compare it to how many prescriptions he might reasonably need to have, you can see it seldom makes sense for a young person. The same thing holds for coverage for ambulance, blood transfusions, organ transplants, etc. The chances of using some of those features are slim.

You must do what you feel comfortable with. No one needs to stress themselves out by worrying about bills.

COBRA is continuation of insurance rights. Anyone who is on a group health insurance plan and drops it (or is dropped from it) are mandated to be offered COBRA. The key word here is GROUP insurance.

Vickey-MN

Thanks for all your thoughts! It helped me sort some things out. I was overwhelmed at where to start. He is a student at a JC but is applying all over the place so not sure where he will be in January. He is currently unemployed. All I am really interested in is some kind of catastrophic coverage that would cover medical costs over $100K or something. He did have back surgery (thankfully it went well) last year. THank goodness he still had insurance because that ran something like 25K. He does basketball and martial arts which makes me a little nervous from a medical standpoint. And the reason why I'm doing this research is that he just wouldn't. So guess who will really have to pay for any emergencies? I'm really getting insurance for my husband and I if you get my drift. I want to protect OUR assets. I will check with some of the colleges he's applying to; also Blue Cross/Blue Shield. THanks everyone!

Most colleges have some sort of student plan that will cover accidents on campus. If he is an automobile accident, there would be auto medical insurance that would pay before any other policy would. In fact, usually regular insurance would refuse to pay if there was any coverage available from the automobile accident policy.

Don't worry about being responsible for his bills. He is over 21. Legally, he is responsible for his own bills. Just remember that. If by some remote chance he gets into a serious accident, just be sure that when you are asked who is responsible for this bill, you say he is himself. Just because you are paying for his college, does not mean that you MUST pay for all his bills. Do not sign anything that agrees to this.

What would happen is this. Suppose that he were to get into some very serious accident. (not much chance of that happening, but suppose) At some point, since he is unemployed, the hospital would seek funds from somewhere. If you did not volunteer to pay, the hospital would seek state aid.

Don't cross bridges and worry about things that will probably never happen. Just remember. He is an Adult in the eyes of the law. He is no longer your child. You may feel morally responsible, but you aren't legally.

Perhaps it is time for him to get some sort of part time job that at least, would pay for this sort of thing.

He should be able to get his own coverage from BCBS. DH and I had to buy our own insurance for last 2 years and it wasn't that bad- about $200/month for both of us. It wasn't just catostrophic either- we had a copay for Dr. and Rx. We're in good health, in our 30s, nonsmokers, so the rates weren't bad.