Graduates without health coverage should consider their parents\’ plans
As many students prepare for the big day in their lives known as college graduation, quite a few don’t exactly know what road their lives are headed down. Many take the first few months after graduation and move home whether its because they do not yet have a job or for money saving purposes. One major consideration graduates have to take into concern is how they are going to handle their benefit plans, most importantly their health plan.
Prior to the health-care overhaul, once a student graduated they were normally dropped from their parents’ health care plan. Today, graduates are now permitted to stay on till age 26. The big decision comes once a graduate accepts a job. Most first time jobs come with low coverage and a limited benefit. Although a student may consider themselves “healthy” it seems from statistics more beneficial to remain on your parents’ health care plan until you are financially stable to take out an individual plan.
For graduates who have a family with health care coverage the option seems like a no-brainer. Unfortunately, not all families have occupations which include large health care plans. Graduates in this situation do have options and they should take the time to review each of them to choose the type of plan that best fits them. While this is not a topic most graduates are necessarily prepared to discuss it is important to take the time to weigh all your options as this is the first step to much larger future decisions.
