This is a review from the article The Sneaky Way Colleges Try To Sell Students Health Insurance
by Ann Brenoff at the Huffington Post from October 10, 2017. Here are the Highlights:

1. Students must have insurance to be in school. Not only do students need insurance, they need insurance that meets the school’s minimum coverage standards. This standard is different from school to school.
2. College health plans are often already on the tuition bill. This is a classic aggressive marketing technique of forcing a customer to opt-out rather than opting in. Students must request a waiver if they have insurance that already meets the school’s requirements. A request is just an application, not a guarantee the student will be granted the waiver.
3. Waiver’s must be requested every year. That’s right folks, not only do you have to opt-out from insurance, you have to opt-out each year.
4. Premiums vary from campus to campus and can inflate the cost of going to college significantly. There is no standard for premiums. The average cost is $1,500 and $2,500 per year.
5. There is often little choice. Schools often have one or very few health plans and often have health centers who do not accept anything other than the insurance they sell.
6. Rules for waivers vary. Some schools want to see low in-network deductibles while others want to ensure there are adequate in-network providers in the school’s area.
7. Students can take out loans (or use scholarship money) for insurance. Since insurance is a line item right next to tuition, loans and scholarships are fair game for paying for insurance.
8. Big impact on students if the Affordable Healthcare Act changes. If the employer mandate or the coverage for kids 26 and younger is removed, the burden of insurance will pass from the large employers to the students and their families.

My opinion of the article and it’s focus is that students should definitely be mandated to have insurance while at school but there should be government oversight for what insurance is offered, how it’s disclosed to students and what provider options exist in the school’s area. Right now college insurance seems like the unregulated wild west and most families don’t even realize it. When we pay for something, we should have a right to know what we’re paying for and not be forced to opt-out. Often, this insurance payment is in addition to a ‘Health Fee’ which covers minor health and wellness interventions. For example, here at Indiana University’s counseling center (CAPS), there is a $30 fee for each session during each semester after the first two ‘free’ sessions. IU does not accept insurance and offers to provide an itemized invoice that can be sent to a student’s insurance company so the family can be reimbursed.

I recommend that if you have a kid that’s heading off to college next Fall and will likely need healthcare support for medical or mental health, do your homework to find out whether their health centers accept your insurance. Research how to complete the waiver and make sure you know how much out of pocket healthcare expenses could be.