Government Insurance Health Plan Comes In Handy For Students

Being a college student, finding health insurance is a requirement to enter a great number of colleges and universitie on one hand, and on the other hand, it isn't easy to do. What affordable college student health insurance options are available now after the passing of the new federal government law introduced in 2010 and put into place in 2010 and 2011?

In this article we will cover two standard ways and two new ways for students to acquire health insurance. The new ways became available since the inception of the federal government health plans. Comparing and contrasting the options, a student, or their parents will be able to decide which of the four options might make the most sense, either going for the best cheap discount health insurance, or for the insurance with the most health plan services, or anything in between. By reading this, you will save yourself time and money, possibly a lot of money. You will be presented more student health insurance plan options that you can find on most other sites.

The three standard ways to acquire health insurance as a student

The usual way to get student health insurance has been either to sign on with their parents insurance up to the age 22, to buy it in the individual marketplace, or to get an individual policy through college itself. The colleges normally do not offer group insurance of any kind. While colleges might give you suggestions on what insurance to buy, ultimately the student will decide what insurance to take.

Signing up through the parents insurance until age 22: The advantages of signing on with the parent's insurance through work is that, as long as the insurance is offered to the employee's dependents, there will be no questions about pre-existing conditions, and the insurance can not be refused based on any pre-existing illness or pre-existing condition such as asthma, diabetes, or obesity. The downside of such insurance might be that the number of choices of coverage through the employer might be quite limited, and the price might be quite high. That usually depends mostly on whether the employer will cover part of the cost for the employee's dependent or not.

Student signing up for their own coverage: When a student chooses to purchase his/hers own insurance, or after they hit 22 years of age, they will have available for purchase a complete choice of individual student health insurance plans that are offered in their state of residence. Insurance companies usually have special plans available for students to provide both the preventative care, and also catastrophic care in case of major injuries or accidents. Also, student health insurance quotes online usually include special discounts. The downside of individual plans for students was that a student could be refused coverage because of the pre-existing condition or illness.

Getting coverage from the college itself: When the school has their own medical center and clinics, they can offer a lower-cost policy which limits the students to use their clinics and their hospitals. Of course, only larger universities and colleges can offer such option.

Two new ways to find affordable college student insurance

Since the passage of the Affordable Health Care Act of 2010, there are two new ways a student can get insurance, including the new federal government health plans. This will increase the total number of options for students and possibly help them save money and be protected against financial distress associated with a sudden illness or injury.

Signing for group health insurance through the parent's employer through age 26: Affordable Health Care Act extends the age until which the group policies with employers must accept dependents to age 26. A dependent for the purpose of this law is a child of an employee, regardless of whether the child lives with the parent, is considered dependent on the tax return, is married, etc. Another great provision of this law is that it applies even if the student loses his or hers student status.

Obtaining new low cost federal government health insurance plans: This is a brand new option available since 2010. It looks much like an individual plan offered through private insurance companies. It is managed and funded by the federal government. Its best feature is that it covers students who can not get insurance in the private market place due to the pre-existing conditions such as diabetes, obesity, asthma, and others. In fact, having a pre-existing condition is one of the requirements for acceptance into the plan. This plan is highly competitive price-wise with the private plans, and its cost has recently been further reduced by up to 40%.