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Home > Health Plan > Coverage for College Students
COVERAGE FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS Some plans do not include every benefit mentioned. Refer to your plan booklet to verify which benefits are included in your plan.
For employee-members with dependent coverage, the Plan pays benefits for eligible children who are under 19 years of age. If the child is a full-time student attending an accredited school and is financially dependent on you for more than half of their support, he or she will be eligible for benefits until their 23rd birthday.
Keeping Your Student Covered
A student is considered full-time if he or she is attending a trade school or an accredited college with a course load equivalent to 12 credit hours per semester. Unless a student continues to be enrolled, coverage generally ends January 31st for the fall semester and September 30th for the spring semester.
To ensure ongoing coverage, send or fax a copy of your student’s registration or a letter from the college each time he or she registers. Send the documentation to:
Att: Claims Department
College registrar offices are well-experienced in keeping health plans advised of student enrollment and most have form letters that they can send to the Benefits Fund Office for you.
When Coverage Terminates
Your student’s coverage will terminate when he or she is no longer a full-time student (for any reason) or attains age 23, or when you are no longer eligible for health benefits. If health coverage is still needed after coverage terminates, be sure to have the student exercise his or her right to continuation coverage by making self-payments under COBRA.
If your Student Becomes Disabled
Federal law provides that a group health plan may not terminate a college student's health coverage simply because the child takes a medically-necessary leave of absence from school or changes to a part-time status for medical reasons. Coverage must extend for one year after the first day of the leave (or, if earlier, the date coverage would otherwise terminate under the Plan, such as reaching age 23). The student on leave is entitled to the same benefits as if he or she had not taken a leave.
The UFCW Health Plan must receive written certification by the student's treating physician stating the child is suffering from a serious illness or injury and the leave or change in enrollment status is therefore medically necessary.
A disabled student's extended coverage will terminate at the end of one year even if the student continues to be disabled and cannot return to full-time student status. Should that occur, the student may exercise his or her right to continuation coverage by making self-payments under COBRA. However, as permitted by law, the extended coverage will run concurrently with COBRA. This means that if the disabled student receives one year of extended coverage and, after the expiration of this one-year period, he or she is not eligible for Plan coverage (for reasons such as failing to return to school, attaining age 23, or getting married), he or she can only elect to continue coverage under COBRA for up to 24 months (for a total of 36 months of coverage).
Special Concerns for Out-of-State Students
If your student goes away to school, be sure to consider the following special concerns:
You can plan in advance regarding the nearest BlueCross BlueShield hospitals and doctors for your out-of-state student. Call 800-810-BLUE (2583) or visit their website at bcbs.com and click on "Find a Doctor or Hospital."
Special Concerns for Out-of-the-Country Students
The Health Plan does not cover treatment that is received outside the United States or Canada, except for emergency care. If your student is traveling outside the country and needs emergency care, BlueCross BlueShield maintains a network of providers in many countries that will bill directly for the services in U.S. dollar denominated charges. You can plan in advance by locating network providers in the country where your student will be traveling. Call 800-810-BLUE (2583) or visit their website at bcbs.com, click "Find a Doctor or Hospital" and then click on "Click Here" for providers outside the United States.
See the section of this website Traveling Outside of the United States or Canada for more
information.
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