Jesse Barnum thought he was invincible, so he never worried about how much health insurance he had.
But then, four years ago, when he was 18, the former tight end for the Grand Rapids Community College football team ruptured a disc in his spine and his right leg was temporarily paralyzed after he squatted holding 475 pounds in a weightlifting class.
He needed disc replacement surgery — an $8,000 operation.
Barnum had limited Blue Cross and Blue Shield health coverage through his mother, but that wasn’t enough to cover the expenses. He mistakenly thought the school would pay the $3,500 shortfall because the class was part of his football training. But the school didn’t pick up the tab because the injury didn’t occur on the playing field.
Consequently, Barnum became one of a growing number of college students with inadequate health coverage.
About 89 percent of the nation’s 15 million college students have less health coverage than they realize, and 11 percent don’t have any, according to the American College Health Association, a Baltimore-based trade group. And those numbers could be higher, said Jim Mitchell, director of student health service at Montana State University. He estimates that as many as 25 percent of students don’t have insurance, and that number will grow as students age and employers offer fewer medical benefits.
The risk of some health problems, including respiratory infections, accidents and sexually transmitted diseases, increases when students head off for college, so it’s crucial for students to have coverage, physicians say.
Instead, underinsured or uninsured students are facing medical bills they can’t afford and sometimes lingering health problems. The solution is to understand their policies, and if they don’t have insurance, find out how to get coverage.
“There’s a feeling of invincibility and they don’t think they’ll ever need it,” Mitchell said. “Then they get clobbered.”
For parents, it’s been a rude awakening. It took Kandy Barnum, Jesse’s mother, two years to pay his medical bill. “He’s covered on my insurance, so I didn’t give it a lot of thought,” she said. The insurer “did pay for some of the surgery, but not all of it.”
Clare Baar, director of business services for Grand Rapids Community College, said the school requires its students to have athletic insurance, which generally covers up to $25,000 for injuries. Students taking weightlifting classes are expected to have their own insurance, he said.
Citing confidentiality reasons, GRCC officials wouldn’t talk to this reporter about Jesse Barnum’s injury.
Many students, such as Barnum, are covered under their parents’ policies or have some type of insurance through their schools. Some colleges even make health insurance mandatory to help students when they face a catastrophic injury.
Still, health issues linger.
The college health association says 36 percent of college students are covered under their parents’ policies, but in most cases the insurance is effective only for full-time students. The policies often end when students reach a certain age, usually 24. That’s a problem, given that more than half of college students are older than 24, and students sometimes drop to part-time status.
As for school-sponsored coverage, which roughly 39 percent of students have, students often must seek an extension, at an additional cost, if they want to be covered during summers or while they are on leave from school.
Malinda Wilson, a student at Wayne State University in Detroit, was dropped from her mother’s insurance in January after she turned 25. She expects to buy her own insurance this summer when she gets a job. In the meantime, she’s taking her chances and hoping she won’t need insurance.
“I’m not worried. Things will look better for me this summer,” Wilson said.
Most residential and commuter colleges offer health insurance and have health centers on campus for students — but at a price. The centers usually offer basic services, such as treating gynecological problems, minor injuries and infections, said Dr. Robert Winfield, interim director for University Health Service at the University of Michigan.
Wayne State’s plan costs $830 annually. The University of Michigan’s health coverage is $700 a year. Compared with employer-paid plans, which are about $3,800 annually, those are fairly minimal, about $60 to $70 a month. But to students any extra expense is a burden, Mitchell said.
Keith Greene, a 25-year-old Wayne State urban planning student, used his student loan to pay for his WSU health insurance until the money ran out.
“I’ll just have to pray about it,” he said. “I’ll manage.”
Sometimes having insurance isn’t enough, Winfield said.
A typical day in a hospital can cost $2,500 or more, so it’s important for students and parents to know how much coverage they have with any plan.
For instance, health maintenance organizations (HMOs) offer fairly good coverage if students reside in an area where there are lots of doctors in their network, Winfield said.
But if students happen to go to an area where network physicians are scarce, they could run into problems seeking treatment, because HMOs restrict users from seeing providers outside their programs, he said.
Other insurance programs might cover only emergencies. So students or their parents might have to pay for office visits, X-rays, lab tests and prescriptions.
As in Barnum’s case, some insurance companies offer limited coverage and pay only a portion of the bill.
So what should students and parents do about insurance?
If insurance isn’t offered through a college, and a student can’t get insurance through his or her parents, there are alternatives.
Students can opt to buy their insurance through private companies that specialize in selling insurance to students, such as Bel Air, Md.-based Champion Insurance or Northbrook-based Worldwide Insurance Services. But those plans can be costly, ranging from $700 to $900 every six months, depending on such factors as a deductible.
Some students could qualify for Medicaid, a free government-funded insurance program, if they have less than $300 in monthly income and are between ages 18 and 20 years and 11 months, said Gene Hashley, a spokesman for Michigan’s Family Independence Agency.
Barnum, now 22, thinks about health insurance a lot. He decided to major in business, with a focus on insurance at Olivet College in Olivet, Mich.
Because of his injury, he doesn’t play football anymore. Barnum still lifts weights, but he does it carefully. “I still get aches and pains from the injury,” he said.
Independent Insurance Agents of America offers a “Graduate’s Independent Guide to Insurance” to help students, graduates and their parents navigate the maze of insurance options. To get a free copy call 800-261-4422.
