Out of State Coverage for Children Under 26, Can My Child Stay on My Plan?
My 23 year old daughter moved from her home in Maryland to NYC last August to work. She is on my individual BCBS PPO policy, which ends today! I have talked to many insurance reps in both NY and MD about if she can stay on my MD PPO policy or does she have to have a policy in NY.
I was told she can not stay on my policy because she is living and working in NYC.
Doesn’t Obamacare state all children under 26 can stay on parents policies? It would be fine if she did get health insurance in NY but when I spoke to a rep and got a quote through the Marketplace, they only offered HMO and said the policies absolutely would not have any health care coverage outside the state of NY, including emergency. I don’t feel comfortable with that at all!
She has been waiting the last couple of weeks to see if her company was going to be hiring her on a full time basis with benefits. We are down to the final day with no answers.
Today is the last day of her existing health insurance coverage. Help!
Answer
As long as you can maintain a multi-state PPO from BCBS your dependent should be able to stay on your plan. A traditional HMO won't do the trick for her due to traveling. We suggest not waiting on the employer for coverage, once that coverage starts she can always transition to the employer plan. Even then, if she's going to be traveling back home often, make sure the employer plan covers travel.
Hope that helps. Feel free to ask follow up questions.