For schools with ISM’s Domestic Student Accident Insurance, it’s the beginning of the renewal season. For those without it, it’s the beginning of the contemplation season. Should you protect your students or leave it up to the parents to provide health and accident coverage for their children under their insurance plans?
The reality of the situation is you can’t always expect parents to have health insurance, which would cover their child in the event of an accident. The current economy has many companies (and schools alike) reducing (and eliminating) health benefits, or raising premiums and increasing deductibles, thereby minimizing coverages. These changes can create gaps in protection for families—your students' families. Loss of benefits or minimized benefits can be devastating for a child in the event of an accident.
Not all students are athletes. In fact, most are not. However, most children are involved in some sort of school activity. They might be interested in drama, the debate club, band, glass blowing, or inter-murals. All of these activities can lead to serious injuries.
Now, you might be thinking, “How is it possible for a child on the debate team to be seriously injured?” That’s a great question. Think about this scenario:
The debate team is traveling two towns over to compete against a rival school. As the competition is going on, there is a power outage. The stage is dark, the auditorium is dark, and there is a slight panic in the crowd. A few of the kids start moving around and next thing you know there is a collision, leaving one of your students with a fractured shoulder. The working parent is transitioning companies and currently has no coverage. Now there is a huge medical expense the family was not expecting, and they’re left with a financial decision that might prohibit their child from continuing to attend private school. You might look to help the family, but you have to ask yourself (and staff), is this really how you want to spend your hard-earned cash reserves?
This scenario is not as far fetched as you might think. (Our program pays out $500,000 in claims every year on behalf of families.) Accidents happen all the time because of elements outside of your control such as power outages, traffic, poorly structured props, and malfunctioning equipment. And, parents faced with hefty unexpected expenses such as large medical bills are forced to budget items from their expenses everyday.
Sporting accidents, as you might have suspected, are more common. According to the National Center for Sports Safety (NCSS), more than 3.5 million children ages 14 and under receive medical treatment for sports injuries each year. Children ages 5 to 14 account for nearly 40% of all sports-related injuries treated in emergency rooms. The rate and severity of sports-related injury increases with a child’s age.
With Student Accident Coverage, you can insure students involved with all school-sponsored interscholastic, intramural, and club sports including football both on campus and while attending school-sponsored activities off campus. This coverage also insures students while on field trips; for boarding schools, students are protected 24-hours.
In ISM’s opinion, it’s always beneficial to insure your students if possible. ISM’s coverage is very affordable, and the peace of mind it offers your families is priceless. For more information about ISM’s Domestic Student Accident Coverage, click here.
