Receiving Student Health Insurance Tips
Read these 5 Receiving Student Health Insurance Tips tips to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Each tip is approved by our Editors and created by expert writers so great we call them Gurus. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about Health Insurance tips and hundreds of other topics.
Adult Children & Health Insurance
If you have an adult child aged 18 or older who is or will be enrolled in a course of study at an institution for higher education such as a college, university, or vocational school, it is critical that they are receiving student health insurance. Maintaining health insurance coverage for your child should be done and whether you need to purchase student health insurance depends on your current health insurance situation. If you currently have a family plan in good standing, most health insurance plans allow you to keep your adult child on your plan as long as he or she is enrolled in school at least part-time or until age 21, whichever comes first. You should contact your existing insurance company to see if this is possible. If it is, you will probably have to furnish proof of enrollment to the insurance company. But that's pretty simple. Most companies only require you to complete a form indicating the school at which your child is enrolled and the expected graduation date. However, this paperwork usually needs to be completed each year on or before your child's birthday. Some companies send the form out automatically. Others do not. It is ultimately your responsibility to make sure the paperwork is completed on time. If your child is not eligible for coverage under your existing plan or you do not have insurance yourself, you should definitely consider purchasing student health insurance for your child to cover things such as sports-related injuries and common illnesses that tend to spread quickly in college dorms.
Shopping for Student Health Insurance
Whether you are shopping for a student health insurance plan for yourself or your adult child, it is important to understand exactly what the policy will and won't cover. A fee-for-service plan, though more expensive, will allow the covered person the greatest flexibility in deciding when and where to receive treatment. Preferred provider organizations (PPOs) have some features of managed care but are generally less expensive than fee-for-service plans and less restrictive than HMOs. HMOs usually offer the lowest premiums but have the tightest restrictions on when and where you can receive care. When you are shopping for college student health insurance, ask the insurer specifically what types of services are covered, what providers and hospitals are covered, and whether the policy will cover treatment received when the student is home for breaks and over summer vacation. You should also ask if the policy will be automatically renewed or whether you will need to reapply for coverage each year.
Online Quotes for Student Health Insurance
The Internet is a tremendous resource in conducting research of any kind, and shopping for student health insurance online can be beneficial. There are a multitude of legitimate Web sites that will supply you with quotes for student health insurance instantly. Some of these sites deal only with health insurance for college students, while others deal with all types of health insurance, including everything from short-term health insurance to long-term health insurance. Your school probably offers student health insurance to its students, so you may want to start there to see what type of coverage is offered and at what premium. Once you know what is available through the school, you can begin comparing it to plans offered by third-party agents and insurers. If you conduct an Internet search on the term "student health insurance" you will receive more returns than you know what to do with. Quotes will be provided free of charge, so do not ever pay to receive an insurance quote, and never reveal sensitive personal information on these quote sites such as your social security number or credit card number. Any quote site asking for that information is almost guaranteed to be a scam site. The only guarantee is to use good old-fashioned common sense!
Dependents & Student Health Insurance
If you are a student with dependents, you will need to contact your health insurance provider to see if you can add your dependents to your plan while you are receiving student health insurance. While some student health insurance plan providers do allow you to add dependents for additional premiums paid, others do not. The other consideration when seeking coverage for dependents is whether the types of services you are likely to need will even be covered by a student health insurance plan. Many do not cover wellness visits for children, for example. Another example is that some school-sponsored plans do not cover gynecological services. While premiums for individual health insurance policies will almost always be more than those for student health insurance, you may break even or come out ahead by slashing your out-of-pocket expenses if your plan covers all or most the services your family uses.
Purchasing Student Health Insurance
Are you interested in receiving student health insurance for your child? There are generally two options available to you if you are looking to purchase health insurance for a college student. You can purchase an individual student health insurance policy through an independent insurance agent or directly from a company that offers such coverage. These types of policies are available as fee-for-service and managed care and many can be tailored to your needs in terms of deductible amounts. These plans usually provide the greatest flexibility in terms of when and where services can be rendered to the student. Another less expensive option is to purchase student health insurance through the school the student will be attending. Most colleges and universities offer students an opportunity to purchase student insurance through a school-sponsored plan. While these policies may be less expensive than purchasing an independent health insurance policy, the coverage terms also tends to be more fixed.
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| Jennifer Mathes, Ph.D. |
