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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — College students often see themselves as young and indestructible, but it only takes a tiny virus or misstep in a pick-up basketball game to prove otherwise. Accidents happen, as do illnesses and other health concerns. Medical expenses can add up fast, which is why it’s important for college students to have health insurance and be familiar with their plan and its coverage.
Health insurance helps protect people from high medical care costs. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners says that although parents’ health insurance usually cover full-time college students until they are 23, it’s important to check whether the campus health facility, local physicians and hospitals accept the family’s insurance coverage before a trip to the clinic is needed.
Shelley Matthews-O’Connell, director of the University of Northern Iowa Student Health Clinic, recommends parents request additional insurance cards — health, dental and pharmacy — for their students.
“Students who have gone to the same doctor for years may not have had to present their health insurance card in the past, but will when going to a new healthcare provider,” she said. “Parents also should talk to their students about what their health insurance covers and any limitations it may impose. If they have coverage under a PPO (preferred provider organization) or HMO (health maintenance organization), the student will need to be aware of the restrictions, and the parents and students should search for a healthcare provider prior to a health care incident.”
Some college health clinics are participating providers with insurance companies, but double-checking with the insurance company is recommended.
In 2006, the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that 20 percent of college students aged 18-23 were uninsured. If a student is without health insurance or under-insured, most universities offer a health-insurance plan to their students and, depending on the size of the university, there may be a number of plan options. In most of those cases, university-sponsored or -endorsed plans are most effective when the students seek care at the universities’ health clinics, but students should review individual plans for details, Matthews-O’Connell said.
For more information about health insurance and understanding health-insurance coverage, visit the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health Medicine Plus Web site at www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/healthinsurance.html.
www.uni.edu
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