NextPath

If your children will be graduating from college in May and won’t be going on to graduate school, any student health insurance they have will likely be ending along with their classes. And as graduates, they’ll usually no longer be considered dependents who could be covered under your own policy.

If you’re counting on your kids getting health insurance through an employer, keep in mind that unless your children already have job prospects lined up after graduation, they may not land a job for several months, during which they’d have no health coverage. Even when they do start working, there may be a 30- to 120-day waiting period for health benefits to kick in.

The good news is, with commencement still a couple months away, you have time to shop around.

To help you find the right health plan for your graduating senior, here are four tips for keeping your college graduate covered.

1. Shop for an individual plan.

   Drop by EHealthInsurance.com. With a zip code and date of birth, you can get a wide range of quotes from a number of major carriers, including Aetna, BlueCross BlueShield, Cigna, Humana, and United Healthcare. Sort your results by provider, deductible, or monthly payment.
   
   Your monthly premium will almost always be higher with an individual plan than with a group plan, such as that offered by many employers. But individual plan premiums will still often be cheaper than COBRA coverage.
   
   The EHealthInsurance application process is short and straightforward, with many applications reviewed for approval within as little as 72 hours.

2. Find a short-term plan.

   Although some carriers may not offer long-term individual plans, they may offer short-term plans (six months to two years), designed specifically for people in transition, like recently graduated students and individuals between jobs.
   
   If you can’t find an individual plan for your area or budget, try to find a short-term policy as a band-aid solution. Sites like TemporaryInsurancePlan.com offer free quotes. These short-term policies are generally low-cost plans with high deductibles and emergency-only coverage. But if your children are healthy and don’t need maintenance care, a six-month policy could provide enough time for them to find a job with benefits while keeping your coverage costs low.

3. Get COBRA coverage.

   If your children are being covered as dependents under your policy while they’re in school, they may no longer qualify as dependents once they graduate. But under federal law, when dependent children leave college, they may be able to extend their coverage for up to 36 months following graduation with COBRA insurance.
   
   Be warned: COBRA coverage can come at a much higher monthly premium than you’re currently paying — in many cases, three to four times as high. You’ll have up to 60 days after your children’s dependent coverage expires to exercise this option.

4. Extend your coverage.

   If you live in a state that extends health insurance coverage to dependents even after graduation (Colorado, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Utah), check with your health insurance company to see what they offer for college graduates. Certain policies may have specific stipulations, such as your children must be single and living with you in order to qualify, so make sure you ask what the requirements are.
   
   Other states currently considering extending dependent health coverage to graduates include California, Connecticut, Florida, Minnesota, Missouri, and New York.