Parents – Review Your Insurance Policies Before Your Student Goes to College

COLUMBUS (OH) — It can be an emotional and trying time for parents sending a student to college. Remembering to pack everything they will need while away from home is a challenge – and so is ensuring they have adequate insurance protection. Ohio Department of Insurance Director Mary Jo Hudson offers these tips about health, renter’s, auto and identity theft insurance to help you review and update your insurance policies to cover your college student.

Health Insurance:

Most health insurance policies cover dependents who are full-time students until the age of 23. Generally, a student must be enrolled in at least 12 credit hours per semester (six or nine credit hours in the summer) to be considered a full-time student. Individual policies differ, so check with your health insurer or benefits administrator about how the policy defines a full-time student and the maximum age of coverage.


Know Your Policy

• Before leaving home, make sure your student has a copy of the relevant insurance cards and knows about obtaining referrals and approvals (if necessary) before seeking treatment.

• If you are insured by a health maintenance organization (HMO), check to see if your student will be outside the HMO service area while away at school. If this occurs, the student likely will have coverage for emergency care, but might have to travel to a physician or hospital within the HMO service area for routine care.

• If your insurer is part of a preferred provider organization (PPO), your insurer may pay benefits at out-of-network levels if you are outside your network. Check your plan provisions or speak with your insurer to find out what level of benefits are provided by your policy.


Student Health Insurance Plans

• If your student`s healthcare coverage is limited by the network service area, another option is a student health insurance plan. These plans are sold by an insurer that has contracted with a college to offer coverage to its students.

• In general, these plans have more limited benefits and more exclusions than traditional health insurance plans.