subject: Student Medical Insurance And Its Problems [print this page] Student Medical Insurance and its Problems
Owning student health insurance from your son's or daughter's college is admittedly better than being uninsured. However, these policies will not cover your student as well as a typical private medical insurance plan. The benefit limitations written into these contracts can leave you with a bill you can't pay.
Since most students are in their 20s, affordable health insurance is likely to be available for your child from a major insurance company at a low price. You don't have to purchase the bare bones policy from the university in order to purchase an inexpensive contract.
You may be able to purchase affordable coverage in the private market. If your son or daughter goes to school in another state, you may have even more alternatives because you will have the option of using your home address or their home address on the application. You may be able to keep your child on your group insurance.
Although policies marketed as student medical insurance are often more affordable when compared to other contracts, the relatively small price differential may not justify the major difference in benefits. You should consider other alternatives before you commit your child to a contract that won't cover him or her very well.
Your son or daughter should leave college with an education, and not just debt they cannot to pay. Medical problems keep many students from benefiting from college. It can also leave them with a major financial burden if their insurance policy doesn't provide adequate benefits.
Many student health insurance plans will limit what they pay for medical bills to $100,000 per year. Standard contracts will typically have a lifetime benefit, but no separate annual limit. Most people not health insurance agents underestimate the cost of a night or a week in a hospital bed. The $100,000 limit would not be written into the policy if some percentage of their contract holders didn't reach or surpass that limit.
Student health care insurance plans usually limit the lifetime benefit also. Most standard policies do as well; however, the benefit limitations can be much higher. Some standard medical insurance policies have no lifetime limitations.
If the above weren't enough the coverage limitations is the limit on the amount of time a student is allowed to keep their coverage if he or she own one of the typical plans offered through their college. If a major health event does happen, there may be lifetime medical issues. Health insurance companies call these preexisting conditions. A significant preexisting condition can affect your child's ability to get coverage after they are no longer eligible for their student insurance contract.
There should be plans available to your child from major health insurance carriers that he or she can keep until they retire. Purchasing a student medical insurance plan because it is a little less expensive can be a big mistake. There are very inexpensive health insurance policies available for most in their 20s people that will not have any of the flaws mentioned above.
Be sure to consider all your alternatives when you are offered student health care insurance from your child's college. You should be able to find a health care insurance contract with good benefits. You should be able to find a medical insurance policy that has not separate annual limit. You should be able to find a health care insurance policy that your student can keep until he or she is eligible for Medicare.
by: Alston Balkcom
welcome to Insurances.net (https://www.insurances.net)
