Who Pays for College Athletes Health Care?

All college athletes are required by the NCAA to have healthcare insurance. The NCAA does not mandate colleges to pay the healthcare costs for athletes. Should a player be injured, the parent's insurance is considered the primary insurance for paying for the athlete's injury costs. This shouldn't come as a surprise since the term "student-athlete" was created so that colleges wouldn't be held liable for sports related injuries.

Some may find it surprising that the organization that specifies the number of phone calls recruits can receive to whether or not athlete can accept rides to school doesn't specify college athlete's insurance requirements. The type and cost of healthcare an athlete will receive will depend on the school.

When the NCPA (National College Players Association) surveyed Division I athletics departments in 2009 to disclose specific medical policies the association was seeking, about 90 percent of the schools refused. The NCPA wants more states to pass legislation requiring public universities to provide additional transparency about how they care for injured athletes.

Why the push for more transparency? Because as reported by The Atlantic Monthly, "after an incoming student signs a letter of intent binding him or her to a university, many schools have no contractual obligation to treat injuries or strains that result from playing for that college." Furthermore, while players can't lose their scholarships because of injuries suffered while playing, the school isn't obligated to renew their scholarships for the following year.

The cases of Stanley Doughty of the University of South Carolina and Kyle Hardrick of the University of Oklahoma may be extreme, but they are examples of what happens when colleges get to decide what sort of medical coverage they provide.

Medical coverage has been improving for athletes, although some school are improving more than others. The New York Times reports

Ellen J. Staurowsky, a professor at Drexel who is studying health care policy at universities in the five wealthiest conferences, said coverage varied widely. Some universities, she said, guarantee medical care only as long as an athlete is in school, while some provide it for an extra year.

Some conferences, such as the Big 10, are including medical insurance as part of their plan to provide more benefits to student-athletes. In California, universities that generate more than $10 million in revenue from athletic programs are required cover healthcare costs of a sports-related injury for up to two years after a student leaves the university. The City of Boston is working on passing student-athlete bill of rights that would include covering long-term medical expenses. Maybe conferences will start offering more medical benefits as a way to attract recruits.

A few states are pushing colleges to disclose more information to prospects in the recruiting process. Both Connecticut and California have Student-Athletes Right to Know laws that require schools to provide recruits with information on what medical expenses are covered. However, until all colleges and universities specify their college athletes insurance coverage and medical treatment policy, it is up to student-athletes and their families to ask for the information as part of the recruiting process.