I was just reading through the paper-work I received alongside my acceptance letter into the ADN program.
It states, "Health insurance is required. If you do not have health insurance coverage, you need to apply as soon as possible, because there is usually a waiting period before coverage becomes effective. Nursing students may be eligible for coverage through NSNA. See nsna.org for more info."
Yesterday I was thrilled to have gotten this letter, but today not so much. The more I read, the more fees I find, and now I am required to have health insurance? I can't afford insurance. Already, I have no clue where I am going to come up with the money for the background check, physical examination, drug tests, etc. Does anyone have experience with NSNA? I went to the website and all I could find was a membership fee of $35.00 for one year, and $70.00 for two years. I saw nothing about health insurance costs.
Any information you can give me will be helpful. The more, the better.
My school requires that you maintain insurance the whole time throughout the program. I think this is so you have access to a doctor or hospital if you are sick or have an underlying condition. They have already stressed to us to take care of ourselves first (i.e. don't come to class/clinical sick) because we won't be up to the best levels of care if we are sick or hurt.
For me, the health insurance thing is no big deal. I have health insurance because my husband is active duty military. Its really cheap for us. But I feel for those of you who make too much to qualify for state aid and too little to afford health insurance. Its a hard place to be in because I do have family that are in the same tough spot.
We also pay a $1000 nursing fee per semester which covers all out liability and stuff but perhaps they should include a basic health insurance in that. Just my 2 cents.
My program is the same way. I had to quit my full time job to go to nursing school so I was no longer eligible for that insurance. What I got was a accident/hospitalization plan. It was $25/month for me and I could start and stop anytime. So I picked the 4 months from Feb to May.... Jan was still covered at work. It was a super high deductible, but it covered the minimum that I needed. If I got sick, I could always go to the CVS or Walgreens clinic for $50.... though I didn't need to.
How does a student present evidence of health insurance to a nursing school? Do you copy the plastic card (if your insurance company issues one) or does the student have a form that must be filled out by the insurace company? If it were me and I were to submit copy of my card or other identifying info, I would make sure my medical ID # were not shown--after all, all one needs is info about the student insured, copy of their card and/or their medical ID# and theft student's medical identity is easy.
Because medical insurance is a contract between the insured (student) and the insurer (company), how would the school determine that the student has insurance--the insurance company will not talk to the nursing school about their insured. Essentially the school is asking for information that it is unable to follow up or certify and by asking for the info, they are putting the student at risk for medical identity theft.
Further, what is to stop a poor, uninsuured, or desperate potential student from submitting fradulent medical insurance coverage--the school can't follow up. Doesn't that defeat the requirement of providing health insurance. Please don't quote ethics to me--I'm playing devil's advocate.
szeles23
153 Posts
My school requires that you maintain insurance the whole time throughout the program. I think this is so you have access to a doctor or hospital if you are sick or have an underlying condition. They have already stressed to us to take care of ourselves first (i.e. don't come to class/clinical sick) because we won't be up to the best levels of care if we are sick or hurt.
For me, the health insurance thing is no big deal. I have health insurance because my husband is active duty military. Its really cheap for us. But I feel for those of you who make too much to qualify for state aid and too little to afford health insurance. Its a hard place to be in because I do have family that are in the same tough spot.
We also pay a $1000 nursing fee per semester which covers all out liability and stuff but perhaps they should include a basic health insurance in that. Just my 2 cents.