Student-athletes, families primarily cover sports-related medical expenses

IOWA CITY - In most cases, student-athletes and their parents foot the bill for health insurance for sports-related injuries.

The NCAA requires that student-athletes be insured - either through their parents, their own policy or by the school - up to an amount equivalent to the NCAA's catastrophic-insurance deductible.

Division I schools, such as the University of Iowa and Iowa State University, are allowed to provide the health insurance, but it is not a requirement.

The University of Iowa Athletics Department is paying $1,345-per-student to insure 24 student-athletes this year. The remainder of the UI's more than 600 student-athletes have insurance either through their parents or pay for their own.

The small number of athletes whose coverage is provided by the department meet financial hardship requirements, officials said.

When a UI player is injured in practice or during a game, the department picks up the cost of care once a student's health insurance coverage is tapped out, officials said. So a student-athlete isn't left holding a large bill.

“Basically, whatever is not paid for by parents' insurance, we're paying for out of pocket,” said Mick Walker, business manager for UI athletics.

Such is the case for the 13 football players hospitalized after winter workouts last month with rhabdomyolysis, a breakdown of muscle fibers that can lead to kidney damage. The UI still is looking into the cause of the illness.

University officials declined to say how much the hospital stay for the football players cost and how much of the treatment was paid for by the university, citing patient confidentiality laws.

They would say that UI Hospitals and Clinics has treated 58 cases of rhabdomyolysis in the past six years, with an average cost of about $8,000 for an average stay of 5.8 days.

According to an annual report to the NCAA that UI officials provided in response to a records request, the athletics department paid $1.05 million in 2010 for student-athlete medical expenses and medical insurance premiums. That would include costs covered when student-athletes are injured in practice or games, officials said. Of that figure, $165,600 was specific to football.

In 2009, the department paid a total of $816,564 for medical expenses and medical insurance premiums for student-athletes, and $165,703 of that was for football players.

The UI is in the third year of a four-year phase-in of a policy that requires all students to have health insurance. If they are not on the plan of a parent, students can purchase university student health insurance.

What health care costs a school might pick up beyond a student-athlete's own insurance varies widely, said Ramogi Huma, president of the California-based National College Players Association.

The non-profit advocacy association is pushing for all Division I schools to disclose key medical policies that affect college athletes. Schools are not required to pay for sports-related medical expenses, and student-athletes should know their obligations going in, Huma said.

“It's kind of a mess, and we're trying to make it more clear,” he said. “Premiums, deductibles, copays, it could all potentially fall on the player. From one school to the next, we have no idea what school is doing what.”

Huma said an eventual goal of the association is that college athletes not have to pay for sports-related medical expenses at all.

“If they get injured while practicing or playing in a game, we feel the school should take enough resources to cover that,” Huma said.

Jarryd Cole, a senior on the Hawkeye men's basketball team, said he has felt confident in the backup coverage provided by the UI. He has insurance through his parents.

As a freshman, Cole tore the ACL in his left knee. He had off-season surgery last summer to remove scar tissue. Cole gets treatment on both knees every day, and he has monthly checkups with a UIHC surgeon.

“I've never worried at all about what might happen. It's been well taken care of,” said the forward from Kansas City, Mo.

A 2009 national study by the New York Times on what medical expenses colleges cover held up the UI as a good example, citing the university for having some of the most comprehensive coverage for athletes.

“Each school has its own stipulations. The NCAA has good guidelines as far as what you can and cannot pay for,” said Terry Noonan, director of UI athletic training services. “It has to be related to athletics.”