Insurance coverage for children age 19 and older

Generally, you may cover your unmarried children until the age of 19, and longer if they are full-time students. Please read further. Please contact Human Resources to discuss your personal situation; but generally, any of the following events may make a child ineligible for coverage:

• No longer classifed as a full-time student (see the table below)
• Marriage
• Reaching age 26

Unmarried, disabled children may be covered beyond the age limit. Please see the yellow box below.

For health insurance, ninety (90) days prior to a dependent reaching his/her nineteenth (19) birthday, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia will mail you a letter requesting you to provide verification of your dependent’s full-time student status.

You will be required to submit documentation of full-time student status to UGA Human Resources. Examples of required documentation include a student registration schedule, a student enrollment tuition receipt, or a student enrollment confirmation letter from the dependent’s school. To ensure continuous coverage, you MUST provide the required documentation to UGA HR prior to your dependent attaining age 19.

If you fail to provide the requisite documentation UGA Human Resources, coverage for your dependent will be terminated. It is your responsibility to notify UGA Human Resources when your covered dependent(s) are no longer eligible for University System of Georgia healthcare coverage.

Regardless of student or marital status, your child's coverage will terminate on his/her 26th birthday.

If you do not contact UGA HR upon your child's ineligibility to be covered, you will continue to pay premiums for your dependent, but he/she will NOT be covered! Please ensure you do not pay unnecessarily high premiums. You must notify UGA HR within 31 days of the qualifying event so your premiums can be adjusted. Otherwise, you will continue to pay the higher premium but your ineligible child will not be covered. NO refunds are given when parents do not notify UGA HR of their child's ineligibility for coverage.

Full-time student coverage information

PPO	A full-time student is defined as registered for a minimum of 12 hours, and enrolled for 2 of 3 semesters, or 3 of 4 quarters per calendar year. If a student fails to meet these requirements, eligiblilty for coverage will terminate at the end of the last month in which the student was a full-time student.
BlueChoice HMO	A full-time student is defined as registered for a minimum of 12 hours, and enrolled for at least 5 months of the calendar year. Students who graduate in May (or later) are eligible to be covered through the end of the calendar year. If a student fails to meet these requirements, eligiblilty for coverage will terminate at the end of the last month in which the student was a full-time student.
HSA PPO	A full-time student is defined as registered for a minimum of 12 hours, and enrolled for at least 5 months of the calendar year. Students who graduate in May (or later) are eligible to be covered through the end of the calendar year. If a student fails to meet these requirements, eligiblilty for coverage will terminate at the end of the last month in which the student was a full-time student.
Kaiser Permanente HMO	A full-time student is defined as registered for a minimum of 12 hours. KP requests verification of full-student status once per calendar year, usually near the child's birthday. If you do not verify your child's full-time student status when requested, your child will become ineligible for coverage at the end of the month the verification was requested.

Once you notify UGA HR about your dependent's ineligibility for coverage, the depedent may purchase coverage under COBRA. Read more about COBRA.

Unmarried, disabled children may be covered beyond the age limit if: They are unable to support themselves; and They depend on the employee for support; and The condition existed prior to age 19 (or age 26, if they become incapacitated while a full-time student); and Proof of incapacity is furnished within 30 days of the child’s 19th birthday (or age 26, if they become incapacitated while a full-time student).

Please contact UGA Human Resources if you have any questions about your children's eligibility for insurance coverage. 706-542-2222 or benefits@uga.edu

October 16, 2009