Student Health Insurance: What’s Covered and What’s Not

Before you try to purchase a student health insurance plan, the very first thing that you should do is read on the medical coverage that it offers. Why? This is because student health insurance can differ from one insurance company to another. And what you would like to do is purchase a plan that will give you the most out of your money. But for student health insurance plans that are offered directly by the university, you may not have any choice because universities usually have a single insurance provider. What you can choose to do is purchase the plan provided for by the university itself or you can get a separate and private student health insurance plan of your own.

But either way, what you need to check is the coverage of the insurance that you wish to purchase. Also be aware that there are certain benefits that should be automatically covered in a college student health insurance plan. The coverage for student health insurance is also regulated by state rules, which in turn will also differ from one state to another.

College student insurance usually provides the following general services:
– Doctor visitations
– Hospitalization (which includes hospital room fees)
– Free nursing services
– Chemotherapy
– Laboratory services
– Simple surgical procedures – done at the outpatient department
– Some selected prescription drugs
– Ambulance use

Aside from the detailed coverage of your student health insurance plan, you can also go out of your way to ask your insurance provider if the provide a specific health service that would apply to your current health situation. Some conditions that are not covered by a student health insurance policy would be health problems that already exist before the insurance was purchased. Rehabilitation, dental and eye services, cosmetic and maternity services and some specific surgeries (such as weight loss surgeries, transsexual surgeries, etc.) are also excluded from the insurance coverage. So just to play safe, call them up or read all you can about the coverage of your plan. Aside from the number of services, there are also limitations as to how often you can use the offered services in a year and a limitation to the amount of health services as well.

So in order for you to make sure that you can get the most out of your student health insurance, read the coverage and the limitations of the plan for you to be able to decide to purchase it or find a better one.

And after you have found and purchased the student health insurance that fits your needs, take advantage of the benefits as best as you can. As the old cliché goes, “prevention is always better than cure”. Visit your physician as often as your student health insurance plan allows you to; take advantage of free immunizations and laboratory check-ups to help you maintain your health as best as possible. Never compromise your health because your academic success and your whole future may depend on it so be sure to get a student health insurance.