Health insurance: individual plan and law school plan?

Question

Hi,

Is it logical to keep my current individual health insurance while taking on the health insurance provided by my law school? I explain the circumstances below.

I was recently self-employed and had a health insurance policy with a high deductible, a health savings account, and excellent coverage. For insurance, it is relatively cheap, but it still adds up.

However I am about to begin law school. My mom's friend, who works in the insurance industry, recommends that even if I decide to take the insurance from the law school, I should keep my current insurance. He explained that if a horrible thing occurred, my law school insurance would cover me, but when I graduate it would become difficult to find a new insurance plan that would cover a preexisting condition. Maintaining my current individual plan guarantees me coverage for life.

However when I graduate law school I will probably go (like 95% chance) onto a clerkship. After that I will do a corporate job to pay back debt for law school. I believe this means guaranteed health insurance for at least two years after school.

Also the HSA, health savings account, of my individual plan does not work while I have the law schools insurance plan.

I'd like to take on the law schools plan bc the the individual plan has a very high deductible, and I like the convenience of getting health care on campus.

So again, does it make sense to shell out the extra money for my own individual insurance plan while taking the law schools insurance? Are other people maintaining individual coverage while their company or school provides health insurance?

Answer 1

i dont know if this will help but this is what happened to me i had a health plan i was paying for had a high deductible and a few other things not so good but overall it was ok then i got a good job programming cnc machines for lockeed-martin and they had great ins. so i took that and droped my other policy then at 35 had a heart attack out of work for 3 months 2 years later had 2nd heart attack out of work about 6 months then at age 40 had massive heart attack had to be revived was clinnically dead for about 5 min. they said i lost oxegen to my brain and it messed up my memory numbers mostly and that is what prgramming is all about could not work any more and since all my ins. was though my job i lost it all i could not get any ins. becouse of what happened pre exciting condition any ways since i had no ins. all my savings went to doctors and medications and trying to pay bills well went though savings pretty fast and had nothing i applied for diability but it took 4 years before i got anything becouse the goverment kept pushing it back and making other excuses becouse i was only 40 to young my lawyer said anyways i finally got it so now i recive a check every month but in those 4 years prior i could  not pay my morgage credit cards car payment i had 3 daughters and my wifes check was enough to feed us and get the bare things you need in life anyways i went bankrupt lost my house and car so everything i worked so hard for was gone in no time now im 50 on disadility and my wife went back to school so she makes good money but ill never have what i once did i rnt a house im sorry i went on for so long but what im trying to say is get ins. that dont tie you to your job get stand alone policy good luck

Answer 2

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Answer 3

If I were in your situation I would keep your current HSA & Insurance.

Especially if you are young and don't go to the Doctor very much.

You should continue to fund your HSA.  This is a great account because it allows you to roll over the money year after year.  And when you reach retirement, you can use the money for whatever you want.  Plus you get the tax benefits.

Answer 4

It would be a good idea to keep your current plan for the reasons mentioned above but according to the IRS you cannot have any other health coverage while you have the HSA plan. If you take the school policy you'd have to give up your current policy. If the school provides insurance for dental, vision, accident, disability, or long term care you can get those and still keep the HSA qualified plan. Check IRS publication 969.

Answer 5

First of you can't have an HSA (Qualified HDHP) and another health plan so you can't do that....and you can't contribute to the HSA.

Second, the likelihood of your law school plan being any good is slim to none (and slim's packing his bags to leave town).  School plans (generally speaking) aren't good.

So, why not just keep the plan you have and call it a day?

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