Student Health Insurance: Good for your Health, Good for your Grades

Why? The reasoning is simple. Studies show that lack of health insurance can not only negatively impact a student's health, but also their academic performance.

Learning the hard way

Studies show that the age group most likely to choose to go without health insurance is young adults. Approximately 30 percent of college students in the United States (about 4 million) do not have any type of health insurance. Anybody who remembers the feeling of invincibility that accompanies youth will undoubtedly find this trend to be an intuitive one. The feeling of invincibility coupled with the lack of affordable health insurance options and the deficiency of knowledge surrounding health insurance quickly leads to an alarming trend of students choosing to be uninsured.

Students do not realize the far reaching consequences of this choice. "There is a growing body of evidence that shows a significant percentage of uninsured students will experience difficulty in obtaining health care in the surrounding community. Many people incorrectly believe that young people need very little medical care. In fact, young adults access medical care regularly when it is available, and have a growing need for routine and preventive health care." While most universities have free basic health care services through their student health center, relying on this as the sole source of medical coverage can be financially disastrous in case of serious illness or injury that may require an off-campus visit to a hospital, physician or a diagnostic center.

In the least severe cases, inability to access routine and preventive health care can lead to more illness for the student, causing them to miss class and perform at a lower level than they would if they were healthy. In the most severe cases a severe illness or accident can leave the student in financial disaster, forcing them to drop out of college in order to work for the money to pay their bills.

Today most health insurance policies allow a registered full-time college or university student up to the age of 24, to be covered as a dependant under the parent's policy. Keep in mind though that there are plans that have no limiting age. This allows the adult child to remain on the parent's policy until either the dependant becomes financially independent (filing their own income tax return) or gets married. This may provide a comfort level to those students staying close to home but the coverage may not be sufficient or available for those going away to college. A thorough evaluation of the policy's coverage area, out-of-network costs, and availability and accessibility to providers should be considered. If any of these areas are lacking or lend room to the possibility of a substantial financial impact, a separate policy should be purchased for the student.

What types of plans should be offered to this target group?

The type of plan offered to this group all depends on the needs of the client. And in most cases the client will more than likely be the student's parents. This does not take away the fact that some students or graduates may take it upon themselves to look for health care coverage.

The availability of product choices such as permanent, short term medical or gap indemnity health plans coupled with affordable premiums should be an integral component of the agent's portfolio. The amount and type of coverage typical of permanent policies or major medical plans vary in coinsurance from 50 % to 100%, with or without a deductible and up to lifetime maximum for hospital, surgical physician, and other related expenses for sickness or injury. Benefits such as preventive care, mental health, prescriptions, vision and maternity care may either be included or added-on as an optional rider to the base policy.

In addition, there are health plans for non-immigrant students studying in the US on an F-1, F-2, J-1 and J-2 visa or for those seeking to participate in a qualified study abroad program. The majority of universities or international programs require students to obtain health insurance as an acceptance pre-requisite. For example, students at the University of Florida seeking to study internationally are required to provide proof of minimum coverage of $200,000. International students studying at Stony Brook College in the state of New York are required to have $100,000 minimum coverage per medical condition with no deductible and exclusions on pre existing medical conditions.

A short term medical policy would also be a viable solution to the student insurance market. Short Term Medical or STM, have similar benefits as its counterpart, major medical, however, the benefit coverage is for a specified period of time. These "temporary" plans include coverage for up to 30, 60, 90, 120 days or 1 year of coverage with most having simplified underwriting limitations and plans design to meet the needs of a temporary life occurrence. Once the benefit period expires, the insured must reapply for continuation of coverage for another specified time frame. If there has been a health change for the insured, the possibility exists for a declination or modification on the new policy in accordance to the carrier's underwriting specifications. Unlike, short term medical, a major medical policy is guarantee renewable and can only be cancelled by the insured or the insurer under the terms and provisions of the policy.

Indemnity policies or mini medicals are an alternative option for this market as a supplement to existing coverage or as a stand-alone policy. These types of plans may reimburse expenses incurred through deductibles, out-of-network costs, co-pays, out-of-pocket expenses, or non-covered medical expenditures. Dependant on the type of reimbursement provision of the plan, benefits paid are subject to reasonable and customary, up to paid charges, or plan benefit maximums. As a stand alone policy, it is the agent's responsibility to inform the client about the limitations of these plans in comparison to a major medical. Call it a mini medical, limited benefit or indemnity coverage, these plans do not maximize protection against medical financial impairments but they do provide limited coverage for hospitalization, outpatient, physician or surgical expenses, accidental injuries, up to a specified amount per day. Something is better than nothing at all!

As health insurance continues to become increasingly important and easier to obtain for this market, students and parents are more likely to purchase coverage and protect themselves medically, financially, and consequently, from bad grades.

By Liz Kenneally
Liz Kenneally is the Vice President of Business Development for Oxonia Insurance Group, Inc , a national health insurance agency and exclusive distributor for the Sure Health and Intelicare Health Programs , an innovative provider of Mini Medical products for the individual or group market. Liz serves on the Board of Directors for the Florida Association of Health Underwriters (FAHU) as their Publication Chair and is also the editor for the free monthly online newsletter, One Voice. (www.fahuonevoice.com) 

Get a Student Health Insurance Quote by calling or clicking below

Read Complete Health Insurance Guide
 What is individual & family health insurance?
What is an HMO plan and how does it work?
What is a PPO? 
How does a POS plan work?
How does an Indemnity plan work?
At what point can my coverage begin?