Attending University Without Suitable Health Insurance Cover Could Well Lead To Disaster
Sunday, November 9th, 2008For the majority of college students the last thing on their mind is health insurance and this is revealed by some recent statistics that show that nearly one out of three college students have no form of health insurance. Starting university is an expensive undertaking and merely finding the money you have to have and getting your college loans is difficult enough, but you should also think about including some form of low cost health insurance alongside everything else you will need to have.
You should of course begin by looking at your parents’ health insurance plan if this is applicable as it is quite possible that it will cover you while you are at college. However, you do have to read through the small print very carefully because some plans will provide cover for while you are away at college and other plans will not. Two items that you need to look for in particular are conditions concerning location and age.
A lot of plans will cover children up to the age of 18 or 21 as long as you are at home and some plans will also extend this age limit as long as you stay in full-time education. However, many plans are limited to cover within a certain geographic area and so, although you may meet the plan’s age requirements, you may discover that you will not be covered if you are away from home.
When your parents’ plan will not give you the cover you want then you will have to organize your own student health insurance and will have to look for suitable providers. Luckily, this is not too difficult and there are a number of insurance companies which provide plans specifically designed for college students. So, where do you start your search?
Initially you ought to look at your own university as colleges will generally make arrangements for their students to receive cover at a discounted rate. This does not necessarily mean that this is the best plan to meet your particular needs and you will need to study the details of the plan to ensure that it meets your needs. Even so your own college is an excellent place to start your search and will often provide you with the best deal. Another thing to consider when looking at your own university is just what medical facilities they provide on campus. Most of the larger colleges will provide excellent medical facilities which are open day and night, while many of the smaller colleges will have far more limited facilities.
Apart from the college itself you can look to the insurance companies as well as a number of publicly funded organizations for cover. And do not overlook the fact that there are a number of different types of plan which are targeted at different student groups. Short-term health insurance for instance could be attractive to a lot of graduate students and can normally be extended following graduation to cover you until you get employment and are covered by an employer’s health plam. Additionally, there are supplemental plans which will provide cover for you for things such as pre-existing medical conditions that are often excluded from standard student cover.
Today health insurance is a complex area and you will have to shop around in order to to get a student health insurance plan that meets your needs and also fits your pocketbook. This is nevertheless something which you should certainly not overlook because attending college is an expensive enough undertaking in the first place and you do not want to risk your future or your money simply because you are unable to meet the cost of injury or illness.










