What You Need to Know About Student Health Insurance

College enrollment comes with many decisions to make and paperwork to review, including information about school-provided student health insurance. While students who have coverage under their parents’ health insurance plans generally don’t need student health insurance, this coverage can be helpful for any uninsured students. This might include students older than 26, people attending school outside of their parents’ plan’s coverage area, and independent students.

Here’s what you need to know about student health insurance coverage to decide whether it’s right for you.

What is student health insurance?

Many colleges and universities require students to have health insurance as a condition of enrollment.^[1] To ensure students obtain the health insurance coverage they need, many colleges and universities — including community, public, and private institutions — offer student health insurance plans. These plans provide health insurance coverage that meets the Affordable Care Act (ACA) guidelines for essential healthcare coverage.^[2]

In many cases, student health insurance plans are opt-out plans, rather than opt-in plans. In other words, the college or university automatically signs students up for the student health plan unless they provide proof of other insurance. If you choose to opt out, schools generally require your health insurance to provide equal or greater coverage than the school student health insurance.

Do you need health insurance as a student?

Federal law doesn’t require people to purchase healthcare, but several states do, including California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Though health insurance isn’t required, you should purchase health insurance — even if you’re a young, healthy student — because illness and injury can affect anyone. Health insurance makes medical care more affordable if and when you need routine or emergency care.

“Students studying and working at universities are subject to psychological challenges, with higher stress levels, fatigue, and exhaustion that can manifest into physical illnesses,” says Daniel Petkevich, founder and CEO of Fair Square Medicare. “Hospitalization costs, checkups, telehealth benefits, and medications can be expensive, and student insurance is a solution that offers parents an option to purchase coverage, protect their children, and minimize costly healthcare.”

Student health insurance options

Students have a few options for getting the health insurance coverage they need while at college. You can enroll in your school’s student health plan, remain on a parent’s health insurance, or apply for your own coverage through the ACA marketplace.

The best student health insurance option for you will depend on your age, family situation, location, and finances. Here’s what you can expect from each student health insurance option.

Student health plan

Most schools offer their student health insurance plan as an opt-out plan, rather than an opt-in one. To waive the coverage, you typically need to provide proof of comparable coverage on another health insurance plan. The costs vary among schools, but you can expect to pay around $2,000 to $3,000 annually for this coverage. This is a separate cost from your tuition.

Student health plans must provide the 10 essential benefits the ACA mandates, which include hospitalization, outpatient care, emergency services, preventive care, maternity and pediatric care, and prescription drugs, among other services.^[4]

Stay on a parent’s insurance as a dependent

If you’re younger than 26, you can remain on a parent’s health insurance plan whether it’s employer-sponsored coverage or from the ACA marketplace. As long as the policy offers dependent child coverage, you can stay on the insurance, even if your parents no longer claim you as a dependent on their taxes.^[5] This is often the least expensive option for student healthcare coverage. However, if you attend school in a different state from where your parents live, you need to check that their insurance policy will still cover you.^[6]

“The parent’s insurance coverage often has limitations for dependents, such as partial medical coverage only for students living out of state,” says Petkevich. “Individual insurance may be a good alternative but may cost more than other plan options.”

Apply for insurance on your own

Applying for a policy through the healthcare marketplace could also provide you with the coverage you need at an affordable price. Whether you go to school in or out of state, you’ll apply for coverage in the state where you go to school. You’ll technically be included in your parents’ tax household (unless you’re over age 26), so the cost of your coverage will be based on the household income.

Normally, you can enroll only during the open enrollment period from Nov. 1 to Dec. 15 every year, but you may qualify for a special enrollment period when you move to or from your school.

But keep in mind that the insurance policies you can qualify for on your own don’t always have the best coverage compared to staying on a parent’s plan or enrolling in a student health plan from your school.

Student health insurance FAQs