Picture courtesy of KariKampakis.com
I wanted to post this because it happened to me and as a parent, I was not sure how to handle it; so why not share my experience. So, my son is 19 years old and last year at one of his doctor appointments, the lady at the front desk asked my son if he wanted me to sign a waiver that indicates that I as a parent will not have access to his medical records or have a say in medical situations because he is now an adult. At first, I did not think much of it, but just a few days ago he got an eye infection and all by himself he made an appointment. So here is the first thing I learned; when he arrived at his appointment, they asked him for his insurance card and of course, the medical insurance is under my name. Nowadays insurance companies do not automatically provide a physical card at least not in California, everything is online or through an app. Since he did not have an insurance card, they asked him for my name and date of birth, which he could not remember the year I was born. Let me tell you, he was upset because he felt embarrassed and was not sure what to do and was just standing at the office. He did text me, and I told him I had texted him a screenshot of my insurance card a while back because he needed it for the on-campus COVID 19 shot – yeah, they asked for an insurance card. He told me he deleted my text. Anyhow, I texted him the year I was born and he was good to go.
Lesson learned, first thing I learned is (1) to make sure to give a copy of the insurance card to your 18-year-old plus kid, (2) if you have Health Savings Account (HSA) account remember to give them the card or remind them not to pay anything at the office, or have them ask the front desk to mail the invoice – if they can of course. The most important thing I learned is, (3) “Do Not Sign” any waivers that exclude you from your kids’ medical records or the ability to make a doctor’s appointment for them, because it will cause problems down the road. I think if you are still supporting them and they are under 25 – or whatever the age limit is where you can still have them on your health insurance, you should still be able to call a doctor to make an appointment for them or have access to their medical records if you need to.
I understand that we need to start allowing them to take on more responsibilities, which is totally fine and I agree. The thing is, make sure to give them the tools they need to get through life situations, and in my case, it was all about health insurance.
Thanks for reading and I leave you with this thought, “They might seem to act like adults, but trust me when I tell you, they still like it when you do things for them”.