Health insurance in the interim

I think this is the winning post. I've heard the same a few times (thought I'm not sure of the duration??). Basically, if you're quitting your job just a couple months before matriculating, I don't think you need to do anything or pay anything and you're good. Then, if something happens, you can go back and purchase COBRA.

What worries me is traveling abroad on an orientation trip during this time. I think I'm going to work the first day in the month of August at my employer, because I think that covers me for the month.

You may want to double-check with your employer about that. That's what I thought, too, until I checked with HR. They said that my health insurance stops on the day I quit.

Follow-up questions:

- So if we quit a few mos before B-school, then how soon should we start planning / obtaining a policy?
- I thought COBRA was only for people who were involuntarily laid off. Does it apply for people like us who want to quit as well?
- To people who are in B-school already or know a lot about the subject -- How comprehensive is the coverage at most B-schools?
- Would setting up an HSA before-hand be a good idea to cover premiums / co-pays / etc? (This is assuming that school plans aren't that great.)

(This post is for those of us who don't live in a country with universal health insurance. To all of you Brits / Canadians / etc: unless / until you arrive in the US, you're lucky to have to not deal with this problem.)

- You should start shopping for insurance as soon as possible. School plans will have their own deadlines (which you should be able to find on the school health service's website) but if you decide to go out into the general market, generally you can get quotes for health insurance plans that start 90 days in the future. If you do go outside the school, the processing of your application can take some time and you'll want to have that all taken care of before you show up at school. So decide when you want your new policy to start, then work back from there.
- Anyone who leaves their job is eligible to enroll in coverage under COBRA, not just people who are laid off. However, since you have to pay the full cost of the insurance coverage, plus an administrative fee, it can be very expensive. Keep in mind most employers who offer insurance pick up a significant portion of the premiums, sometimes as much as 70%.
- I can't speak for other schools definitively, but I'd think it's all pretty comparable. The coverage here is pretty comprehensive: $250 deductible, then 20% coinsurance until you reach the $1,000 out of pocket max. Of course, as with any insurance, the trade-off for comprehensive coverage is premium costs. Here, the premiums are $2400 per year for the student (x2 if a spouse goes on the plan too), + about $3000 per child. Because of the high premiums, and my own health needs, I opted to go for a slightly less comprehensive plan from Blue Cross which has a higher annual OOP limit but saves me almost $1000 a year in premiums.
- As I understand it, you can only contribute to an HSA if you have an eligible high-deductible insurance plan. So if you have one of those plans and anticipate spending a good amount of money on healthcare during school, definitely make the contributions while you get the tax benefits from it. I don't believe you can use withdrawals from an HSA to pay insurance premiums, just for medical care itself.

Also, the younger US students should pursue staying on their parents health care per the new health care bill...the tricky thing is that the provision kicks in 6 months from passage (which I believe was only signed yesterday?) and there's probably no indication yet what insurance companies will charge for this privilege. They could make it not even worth it.

Some states already cover adult dependents up to a certain age, so I guess that's something to check as well (though I think there's frequent exceptions to many of the state laws).

This is true btw. I was laid off sometime in 2008, and did not sign up for Cobra. An emergency came up, I signed up for Cobra that morning, and used my same old insurance card. It took a few months after to clear all the billing, but in the end it worked. One thing is, if you do retroactively purchase it on the 89th day, u have to pay for the 2 previous months you didnt use the Cobra as well.

- To people who are in B-school already or know a lot about the subject -- How comprehensive is the coverage at most B-schools?

It probably depends on the school. At Michigan (and likely any large school with a very good hospital), health services (UHS) is really good. This is unlike my very small private undergrad where student health services sucked. Anyways, you can go to UHS for free for most Dr. visits. They charge for certain things like eye appts, vaccination etc. At the very least you need high deducatable coverage in addition to this for:
-prescriptions
-Dr visits not at UofM
-Hospitalization/ER visits

The school does offer a very comprehensive (ie: very expensive) plan for this which I think is way overkill. It just depends on what you want. Check out ehealthinsurance.com which is where I found my plan.

By the way, I just recently found out that apparently interns don't get health insurance. So COBRA it is. Meh.

My official quit date is June 1st, so I'll be on their insurance through the end of June. In early July, I plan to sign up for an "early arrival" option with Columbia's health plan which should be ~$200-250/month for July and August. Much better than COBRA, it seems.

Well most of the schools provide health care to the students studying there but they will charge extra fees for that and i think it is expensive to have health care insurance at school because there are many companies which will cost you low and will provide more benefits...

Does anyone have experience with ISO Insurance for international students?