Insuring Success

Insurance Options For New Beginnings
Graduation season is over, and the wedding season has begun. Plans have been made for the future, and, hopefully, everything will go as planned. In the perfect post-graduation scenario, you’d quickly find a job that includes insurance benefits. Or perhaps your wedding is going to be in a few weeks, but you have no health insurance and your fiancé does, but you can’t get added to the policy until the wedding or a specific number of days following. Insurance is about covering any gaps in protection, and a gap in health and life insurance protection could be very serious. This probably isn’t a priority to the graduate or bride or groom, but it is to the parents, as they’ll most likely be notified by their insurance carrier requesting documentation as to the eligibility of the dependent. Normally, dependents are allowed to stay on their parents’ insurance through their college years, but if the dependent drops out of school, their coverage would end.

A short-term health insurance policy may be the answer if you’re currently in between insurance policies—or expect to be soon. This type of temporary insurance isn’t just for graduating students. If you’re between jobs, have been laid off, are waiting to be covered under a group health plan, or are starting your own business and have yet to establish a health care plan, this should be of interest. These policies typically can be purchased from 30 to 180 days or anything in between. There are deductible options, and you’re able to use any physician or hospital you want. The premiums usually are much less than a renewable (permanent) health insurance plan because it’s a non-renewable policy, but the benefits are the same. Student who aren’t going on to college should consider the renewable policy because there might be a longer gap until they get a job with benefits.

The downside of a short-term policy is that any health conditions that are diagnosed or treated while the short-term policy is in force may be limited in coverage with a renewable policy.

Renewable term life insurance is also very inexpensive to graduates and is one option to close that gap. This is the best time to seriously consider permanent whole life insurance, as that premium can never change, and insurability most likely wouldn’t be an issue. tpw