While many college students have insurance coverage through their parents, there are still a great number of students who do not. For these students, any major medical issue could mean a great deal of expense to them, especially if their family is incapable of helping them out with the expenses. That is why most colleges provide for these students by offering health insurance plans through a variety of outside companies that do business with the college.
Students that purchase insurance through these companies are given high quality insurance, at a great price. This insurance is generally in line with the insurance that you would expect to receive from your employer. The coverage includes all basic and necessary medical coverage, sometimes with a co-pay dependent upon the actual plan that is purchased.
Generally the cost is about $800 to $1300 per year for the average student, but again it all depends upon where they live and what type of package they are obtaining. This cost could easily be included in most financial aid requirements and would protect students from the incredible costs associated with medical care. This type of coverage is especially important for those that are active in sports, mostly the sports of a more extreme nature. I have seen more than my share of students that have been seriously injured from snowboarding accidents here in Alaska, but without the medical insurance that they need, they find that they are now stuck attempting to pay off $20,000 or more in medical debt. The unfortunate side of it all is that most college students are only making enough money to afford the simple things in life, not enough by any means to pay on any real debts, especially over a longer period of time. This is one of the main reasons that most student loans aren’t paid on until after graduation. Yet another reason why it would be a good idea to add this into a financial aid package.
Currently, there is movement to require that all college students have health insurance prior to entering college. This could essentially become a standard part of the financial aid funding requirements, in order to support this requirement. While it is unlikely that this bill will be passed, there has been ongoing discussion about this for several years. This of course is to help lower the number of young people living in the United States which don’t have any insurance. They are of course the highest age bracket that doesn’t have insurance. By providing this law, it would drastically change this demographic. Currently nearly 30% of all adults aged 18-24 are without any insurance whatsoever. Changing insurance to a requirement of education could drastically lower this number, resolving one of the major causes of death for young people. Lack of insurance has been linked to thousands of death per year, because students lack the means of obtaining the medical care that they need for injuries or illness.
With the increase in cost in the medical world, it is incredibly important for anyone in the United States to have adequate insurance to cover the unknown. Just taking this simple step, could help to avoid incredible financial issues in the future.