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California Health Insurance for College Freshmen and Undergraduates

Heading off to college soon or a returning student? Before you get to campus, make sure to check on your health insurance. Sure, most incoming freshman and undergrads don’t think they need to worry about insurance. They’re invincible, and there are so many other things to be concerned about other than health insurance. But, it’s best to figure out your coverage now rather than wait until an emergency happens.

Most California colleges and universities require that all students have health insurance coverage. So to enroll in classes, you have some options:

1. be covered by your parents’ policy;
2. purchase the insurance offered by your school; or,
3. have your own insurance.
   
   

Option 1: Coverage under parents’ plan

Many college students are covered by their parents’ policies. Typically, family plans will cover students as long as they are enrolled in school full-time and are under the age of 23 (this varies from plan to plan). This may be a good option, but you need to do a little research first, and research is a huge part of the college experience.

If you’re going to school out of state or a considerable distance from home, you want to make sure that you are able to find a doctor in the vicinity of your campus that accepts your insurance and is within your “network.” HMO plans frequently do not cover non-emergency treatment outside of a certain area and forbid visits to out-of-network providers. All PPO plans reimburse less when seeing a provider that is not part of their network. If being outside of your network will be a problem, you will need to look at your other options for insurance.

Option 2: Coverage under college plan

Many colleges offer their own health plans for students. The benefits of these plans vary from school to school, so check with your school's admission office for details and read this article about college health plans. Some are subsidized by the school, so they may be low cost, but make sure to read the fine print. Some plans offer low premiums (monthly costs), but limit coverage. These plans may cover very basic medical care, but exclude things you might really need. For instance, some college plans do not cover injuries sustained playing intramural sports. While you want to have health insurance in case of a catastrophe like a car accident or worse, you are much more likely to get a sprained ankle playing intramural basketball. Also, many college plans limit the maximum lifetime benefit to $50,000. Given the high cost of medical care, this is an extremely small amount of coverage. Should some catastrophe occur you will need significantly more coverage than this amount. So, make sure you understand the maximum amount the plan will pay and generally what a policy will and won’t cover before signing on.

Option 3: Coverage under you own individual plan

Your third option is getting your own insurance plan. There are many affordable health insurance options available for California that will provide the coverage you need. Having your own insurance plan also helps make sure that you stay insured no matter what happens. So, if you need to take a semester off, transfer schools or switch to part-time status, you will keep your coverage.

If you have a pre-existing medical condition, be careful and avoid letting your coverage lapse, since this can make it difficult to obtain coverage in the future. Most insurance companies will either decline to cover someone with a pre-existing medical condition or increase the monthly cost for the coverage.

BenefitsCafe can help you understand your options and find the right affordable California health insurance plan that fits your needs and your budget. Click here to obtain an California individual health insurance quote.

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