Thursday, February 26, 2009

Student Medical Insurance: Stuff You Have To Know

By Chimezirim Odimba

When attending educational institutions in the United States it is ordered that a student has health insurance. They must have at least, a minimum health insurance policy. Educational Institutions have numerous health insurance plans available for students.

Some of these are likely group Health Insurance plans that offer their services through either a Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) or a Health Maintenance Organization (HMO). Both the HMO and the PPO are less expensive than buying group Health Insurance.

Medical schools or hospitals that may be part of your educational institution, would offer the least expensive plans. If you have an International Student Exchange identity card you may qualify for additional Student Health Insurance discounts.

If you do not have one of these cards, you can obtain one by ordering it online. Prior to going to college, many were likely protected under their parents' Health Insurance plan.

You may want to have your parents check with their employer to see if they have COBRA available. If COBRA is offered, this would permit the plan to be extended for 18 months, but it may well not be the most affordable alternative. You may still find campus insurance to be cheaper.

Some of the campus insurance provides coverage during vacations or if you travel outside of the United States, while some others may not. If you chose Student Health Insurance you may want to know the conditions that would not be covered.

Talk to other students and ask them what kind of insurance that they use prior to choosing one. You may also want to make yourself aware of the basic terminology before trying to comparison shop.

Understanding the differences will really help you out a lot. The deductible must be paid prior to the insurance company paying for any expenses. Co-payments are a fixed amount that you have to pay each time you use one of their services, for example if you have a doctor's appointment and need a prescription. Coinsurance still has to be paid, following the deductible for the expenses you sustain for health expenses.

About the Author:

No comments: