Why would someone want a child only ins policy? All day I've been hearing about

[napi21]

the ins. co's in several states refusing to write coverage for children only policies. We always just had the family plan and our kids were automatically covered as one of our dependants.

I'm not criticizing but I want to understand why anyone would do that?

[Recursion]

1. If you've had a lot of medical costs but your child is healthy

It can (well, could) be cheaper to get the kids on their own policy rather than on yours.

The people HCR is expanding coverage to don't have insurance because they are expensive to insure. They will be expensive to insure through private plans. They would be expensive to insure through a public option. They would be expensive to insure through a single-payer system. Requiring insurance companies (or non-profits, or public plans) to offer coverage to children with pre-existing conditions will make plans for children much more expensive. So the companies are dropping them to pool the children with the adults.

[xultar]

2. What if a parent can't get coverage but wants the children covered.

What if you have a child living with you that is not legally yours and you want the child covered until you can bring them onto your plan.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. Self-employed people or others who can't afford to buy individual policies,

or can't get coverage for themselves, but at least want their kids to have insurance.

[DefenseLawyer]

4. Because that's all they can afford.

Did you really not know that? If you are really that sheltered you need to get out more. There is a whole other America out there.

[napi21]

7. NO I didn't know that, and I sure am not sheltered!

IMO it sounds foolish for anyone who can't afford ins. for themselves to try to buy it for their kids who are FAR LESS LIKELY to need it!

[liberal N proud]

5. College to job gap

Keeping people from taking policies out on their 20 something children who have just graduated college and are uninsured because the insurance companies previously dropped them.

They are still doing it until the new law takes effect.

Another reason is to make sure kids with pre-existing conditions have insurance once they are off mom and dads policy.

[Curmudgeoness]

6. Basically, they can't afford to cover themselves, and the usual

policy to cover children is with the parent's policy. It is just one of those horrible situations where you have to gamble that nothing will happen to you, but you don't want your children to suffer because you have some problem that keeps you uninsurable, at least at an affordable rate.

[Autumn]

8. My Nephew in his divorce settlement, is court ordered to provide

health insurance for his child. He has no health insurance , but has to provide it for his Daughter.

[pnwmom]

9. Our daughter's grad student plan covers only her -- no dependents.

Her husband's a grad student, too, with insurance that only covers him. They haven't even had the option to get dependent insurance.

If she were to get pregnant, her policy would cover her but not a baby. She wouldn't be eligible to apply for insurance for the baby until after it was born. What if it was born prematurely, with problems? No insurance company would accept it.

[stopbush]

10. I work at a non-profit that pays my premium.

If I want to add my wife to my policy, it's $400 a month out of my pocket. If I want to add my kids, they're $300 a month EACH out of my pocket. I could get a child stand alone policy for much less than that from almost any insurance company.

Our solution is that my kids are on my wife's policy - she works at a major big box retailer. She pays about $275 a month for the three of them.

[laughingliberal]

11. Insurance companies are still allowed to deny adults with preexisting conditions.

If the parent(s) has/have been turned down, they might still want to know their child is taken care of.

[SoCalDem]

12. Let's say you work for the Acme Shitty Job Co, and you get no coverage at work

Perhaps you are a bit overweight or may have health issues of your own, but you have three little kids. If you are a responsible parent, you will at least TRY to get medical coverage for them. It HAS been quite cheap to insure a "healthy" child, and until recently it could probably be done online or by phone, with very little paperwork or "proof" of health. Young children have always been presumed to be "healthy", unless they were born with a congenital problem.. (many policies do not even become effective until the child leaves the hospital, so those conditions would have been noted, so no policy would have been written for that child anyway)

To buy a family plan that includes Mom & Dad & kids costs more than just individual coverage for each child. ( at least it was this way when we had to buy our own coverage..it may have changed in the intervening years)