Welcome to ROTC moms!

[kgrmom]

I just thought that since there have been a fair amount of ROTC questions and comments maybe there would be justification for a group of it's own. (Not to mention that my daughter is an ROTC freshman :) ) So- let's see if this goes anywhere. Please contribute if you can.

Paulette

[NavyMomNancy]

I have a question, since my daughter will be a freshman in the fall on NROTC scholarship.

When starting school as a freshman on the NROTC scholarship, do these kids remain on their parent's health insurance plan or do they start on military insurance coverage? If they remain on their parent's plan, when do they start with their own insurance on the military plan?

Thank you,
Nancy

[VTnavymom]

Your daughter should be covered on your health insurance until she is 23 or out of college, whichever comes first (and may be different with different insurance policies). I didn't realize until recently that service academy cadets/midshipmen are independent of their parents when they start school - the military covers their insurance. We haven't figured out what happens when our son, who will still be in school at 23 (engineering 5th year) outgrows our insurance for him... we have a little while to figure it out. There may be some kind of extension if they are still undergrads. The other thing you might want to check if your daughter is going to college away from home is what services she can get from the campus clinic without violating your insurance guidelines (when our son broke his finger, they were able to splint it and give him some pain meds, but he had to have follow up care - two weeks later at fall break - from his primary care provider). Interestingly enough, although we pay a health care fee to the university, he also had to pay out of pocket for an x-ray!

[kgrmom]

Apparently the only time the NROTC kids are technically covered by the military insurance is when they are on active duty. Someone told me that includes those weeks they go for CORTRAMID in the summer, etc. While they are at school- yep- keep them on yours if you can because they are not covered by the military.

Beth- does your insurance have a provision to cover your son if he is still a full time student even if he is over the age of 23? Our daughter had to have an xray while she was away at school as well but the school sent her to the local hospital for it- so we did get a bill for the copay for that.

[VTnavymom]

We haven't looked into it yet - but it is on the list of things to do!!

[Denise F.]

Nancy,
They do not get health insurance from the navy until they are commissioned, after they graduate. I wondered the same thing a few years ago when my son started, too.

[Linda H]

My son DOES have health insurance because he is an ROTC student and I believe that somehow the college waives the fee.........or the Navy pays it somehow. But he positively, currently has health insurance which covers him when he is out of the country on cruises AND in the US. It is with a well known US company and I have see the card and talked to his Captain about it - maybe different schools are different. My sons school forgives all room and board obligations (another 10k), though i know that some schools charge the ROTC kids for r and b.

[Centhea]

Does anyone have experience with Tricare as an insurance provider during NROTC, as a dependent benefit? I'm a retired Army officer so my son has Tricare but I'm worried that it will be difficult to get him medical care because he will be going to college out of our Tricare region. So I planned to go with the university's insurance program for him. Suggestions? Experiences?

[Shereen]

Is you son Older than 23? If he isn''t call tricare. All three of my kids used tricare while going to college.

[Centhea]

Thanks, Shereen, I will call. He just turned 18 and will be a freshman next fall. Congratulations to your son!

[VTnavymom]

Our son is covered by Tricare for the time being. He also pays the health fee at the university. He has been fortunate not to be very sick while at school, but he was treated a couple of times for a cold or the flu. They just took care of him at the school clinic. When he broke his finger, they splinted it and told him to follow up with his primary care physician at break (three weeks later). When he thought he had a stress fracture in his ankle, they X-rayed it and we paid an extra $64 for that. Since he is nowhere near a military treatment facility, if there is an emergency, it should process just as if we were on vacation or something - we'd have to call Tricare within so many hours/days of treatment and they should cover his care. For future reference, I talked to the people at Tricare because our son will "age out" before he graduates. He is older than most (started kindergarten late) and will go five years to get his engineering degree. When he turns 23, Tricare has a supplement that is almost $1000 a quarter - so we'll be looking for something else! As I was wondering about this a month ago, there was an article about college grads and their lack of medical insurance (unless they were hired right away by a company that provides health insurance), and there were a couple of tips - check the COBRA laws and the state regulations for your state. Also, check ehealthinsurance.com to see what they offer.

[Shereen]

My son graduated from college today AND was Commissioned!!!!! UC Davis with a degree with Microbiology. I'm so proud of him- now to wait for flight school.

[kgrmom]

Congratulations Shereen and to your son ! From what I hear there is a long wait for flight school for some of the kids :( How about for your son?