Getting college-bound students ready for back-to-school can be a daunting experience. Parents may be so concerned about tuition payments, books and dorm furnishings they forget the less obvious preparations that can make a child’s transition to higher education much smoother.
One of the most important considerations is health care.
When children leave for college, parents are likely still carrying them on family health insurance plans (federal law allows for this until age 26), but children 18 and over are technically considered legal adults under HIPAA rules in terms of disclosing health information, says Lisa Brown, partner and wealth advisor at Atlanta-based Brightworth, LLC.
“You as a parent are no longer legally able to access health information of children going off to college who get sick or are in an accident and in the hospital,” she says.
For this reason, Brown suggests having an estate planning attorney draw up a health-care power of attorney. “The document allows them to name a parent or parents, as their health-care agent so you can speak to health professionals on their behalf if they are unable to, and you can get information about their medical records,”she says.
Most children will not have a problem with this, but since they must be the ones to complete and sign the documents and since it can be an emotional experience, Brown says it is a good idea to first have a conversation about changes that happen in adulthood and how this is a measure that will protect them.
You can download forms from the Internet, she says, but it is not expensive to go to an attorney and have the papers drawn up. Attorneys who have worked with families for many years will often do it for free, she says.
Once the forms are complete, be sure to keep one document at home and have your child keep a copy at school. Also scan it and keep an electronic copy in case you need to email it to a physician or to a hospital emergency room.
“It is one of those things that even as your child graduates from college, it still makes sense to have it in place until they get married and can have a spouse do it,” Brown says.
A child who is going away to school is also leaving the network of doctors and health care providers that may have known him or her since birth. Make sure you come up with a plan for health care that makes sense for your child.
He or she may be able to utilize campus health services or get a low cost student health plans for routine matters, but if a major health concern arises, what will be your plan?
Would you want your child to return home for care, or would you seek providers in a different state? This could be fairly simple if you are part of a nationwide network, Brown says. Talk to your health insurance provider and inform them that your child will be moving out-of-state for a period of time, then ask for tips on the best way to help manage your child’s care while he or she is away.
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