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Health Insurance for Students in College

Here are some things you should know about insurance coverage before your student leaves for school.

If your family health plan is a traditional major medical policy, it covers your student wherever he or she attends college. Questions arise most often when family coverage is with a health maintenance organization because HMOs provide full coverage only within specific geographic service areas and only when services are received from network physicians and providers. If the student is out of your service area, the HMO is only required to pay for emergency care. However, the student can return to your service area to receive other care.

Did you know? If your a student at UT, there is a student health care plan. It's said to be relatively affordable, but students have said "you get what you pay for."

An exception is HMO coverage bought by parents whom divorce courts have ordered to provide health insurance for their children. In such cases, an HMO must cover a child, wherever he or she happens to live, even if that means contracting with another HMO or insurance company to furnish the necessary coverage.

It’s a good idea to ask your HMO if it has a service area where your student will be attending college. If so, the HMO can help the student find a primary care physician in that area.

Did you know? You can go to www.studentinsurance.net to find out how much a health insurance plan for a student at UT (or many other schools) can cost per semester.

If your HMO doesn’t have a service area where your child attends college, you should consider a regular major medical policy. In addition, some schools offer health policies covering their students. Check with the student services office or health center at your student’s school for more information on health policies offered by the school.

Source Information:
Texas Department of Insurance
Jose Montemayor, Commissioner of Insurance

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