Health Insurance and the College Student

If your child is on you or your spouse's insurance plan, find out what age your child's coverage is terminated. Most plans stop covering children once they turn 18, but many do cover your child if they go to college or up to age 24.

Depending on your plan, this extension may be granted automatically or you may need to apply for it, so make sure you know what to expect. If your child's coverage can be extended, you then need to make sure that is a physician near the school that will accept the plan. This won’t be a problem if your child is living at home or attending a local college, but it could be a problem if he's going away to school in another town or state and living on campus or an apartment.

This is especially important to investigate if you're in an HMO or PPO, which will want your child to use one of its primary care physicians. You will need to make sure that there is a doctor available in the town he or she will be in. If one isn’t available, you'll need to contact the plan and talk to a representative about your alternatives. Your plan may have a point-of-service option that allows your child to visit a doctor who is not on the plan at a higher cost to you but at least offers some coverage.

If an extension on your plan is not possible or college-aged children are not covered, check to see if the college offers a student plan. If it does, be sure to take a close look before your child signs up, make sure everything they might need is covered at a reasonable rate. Many of these plans are inexpensive and look really good at first, but often the coverage is very limited and the child is left to go with out some very important care or pay out of pocket.

If you need to start from scratch and end up having to purchase insurance for your child, be sure to shop around. When getting quotes, remember to state that the plan is for a student, there may be special rates. With the major cost of schooling alone, adding health care just ups the cost. If your child holds a job, they might be eligible for health benefits through there, which can decrease the cost of private insurance if they aren’t covered on your plan. It is better to have a plan then be caught paying out for an emergency.

Health insurance for college students is not an extravagance, young and healthy as they may be. Active students have a high rate of injury, and viruses can sweep quickly through college dorms. Happily, the cost of student health insurance is very reasonable. A college student away from home without health insurance can easily spend more money on health care for an influenza outbreak or other illness and a broken leg than the cost of a student health insurance policy itself.

A permanent, renewable individual medical insurance plan that is designed specifically for college students under the age of 30 can be easily obtained from most good insurance companies. You can also keep renewing the plan when you are no longer in college and keep it up to the age of 65 in some cases. These plans are great and not overly expensive and a way to have coverage that extends out of school and isn’t employer controlled.

The Student Select plan is a simple, affordable and easy plan to obtain by parents and older students alike. You choose the plan that best meets your child’s needs and budget and are covered from receipt of first payment. Your child also has the freedom to choose his or her own doctor or hospital and not have to follow a bunch of strict guidelines as with some companies.

If he or she decides to transfer schools, their Student Health Insurance coverage moves with them, so you don’t have to worry about them losing coverage. This coverage will make sure your child gets everything they need while attending college in the United States or Canada. Not just during the school term either, but all year round. If for some reason your child has to leave school, Student Select stays with them for the remainder of the policy year and then it's guaranteed renewable. Where most college plans only cover a child until he or she graduates or very shortly after, Student Select can be renewed as long as it's needed.