With graduations quickly approaching, many grads will be finding themselves at the start of a new job. If you’re the proud parent of one of these grads – congratulations! You’re now one step closer to turning that bedroom into the personal spa you’ve always wanted. 😉

Your grad can expect a lot of changes in the coming months, including having his or her own health insurance plan for the first time. If it’s something your grad isn’t familiar with, be sure to set aside some time to make sure he or she understands the ins and outs of health care coverage. Below are some talking points to share:

• Once you enroll in health care coverage, you can only make changes to your plan once a year during open enrollment, or if you experience a qualifying event (an event that would cause a loss of coverage, such as death, birth of a child, divorce or spouse’s loss of employment).

• There is an annual penalty for not having health insurance.

• Once you have health care coverage, you can save money by receiving services from providers that are in-network (providers that have contracted with the health insurance or plan). Going out of network usually means paying higher costs.

If your son or daughter’s employer doesn’t offer health benefits, your child can still stay on your health insurance plan until age 26. If that’s not an option, he or she may want to purchase an individual health insurance plan. You can shop for one on Healthcare.gov or through your state’s health insurance marketplace (click here to see where to shop).

We’ve also started a series on our blog called, Understanding My Insurance. It’s designed to help first-time health insurance owners understand their coverage. Check it out here!