The Ultimate Insurance Checklist for College Athletic Trainers

Looking for sports insurance for your college? When evaluating accident insurance for your student-athletes, there’s a lot to consider. A-G has compiled this insurance checklist to assist you through the process. Use it to help ensure that your athletic program is well-protected and supported. Keep in mind, too, that the right insurance plan should also free you from paperwork so that you can focus on your sports medicine responsibilities. Here’s what you should be considering in your search.

The Checklist for Choosing an Accident Insurance Plan for College Sports Injuries

The five things you should look for in a plan are:

1. The insurance plan pays benefits that cover out-of-pocket expenses.

Even with primary health insurance, an injured student-athlete will have out-of-pocket expenses that the primary plan doesn’t meet. This could be as much as $18,900 for a family in 2024. You’ll want to make sure that your sports insurance plan provides benefits to cover the deductible, copayments, and out-of-pocket expenses left by the primary health insurance plan.

2. The insurance plan helps negotiate lower costs.

In addition to providing benefits, the plan should also work with provider networks to help reduce claim costs. Plus, these relationships can also make communication easier throughout treatment and claims processes.

3. The insurance plan has both strong customer service and fully digital claims administration.

The human and digital touch are equally important. That’s because injuries and claims generate a lot of paperwork, emails, and phone calls, reducing the time you can spend with your student-athletes. Being able to reach an account manager and customer service is important to get your questions answered quickly. Plus, a fully digital claims experience reduces hours of calls, follow-ups, and paperwork to minutes instead of hours.

4. The insurance plan provides risk management services.

Risk management in sports is critical for student-athlete safety and health. Any plan you consider should offer risk management insights and services.

5. The insurance plan should be flexible for your needs and budget.

There’s no need to go with a one-size-fits-all plan. The carrier you choose should be able to customize the cost and coverage for your school’s needs.

How A-G Checks the Boxes

1. Insurance plan benefits.

A-G has been providing accident insurance to more than 7,000 schools and organizations (including 750 colleges and universities) for more than four decades 0because we offer the kind of financial help student-athletes and schools need from the high cost of injury. There are no surprises. Schools and families can relax knowing that out-of-pocket medical expenses will be a thing of the past with A-G.

2. Lower provider costs.

A-G works with more than 40 networks, which gives us great flexibility in controlling treatment costs.

3. Service and claims administration.

EGBAR, A-G’s proprietary insurance claims management software system, eliminates practically 100% of paperwork and frustration. Rob Baron, head athletic trainer at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, felt that prior to A-G, they went through several reams of paper a month and spent a lot of time contacting providers for billing information, tracking information, creating Excel spreadsheets, uploading claims, verifying payments, calling different insurance companies to get an EOB and more—all keeping them away from the student-athletes. “Now,” Baron says, “it’s hands-free, hands-off with A-G.”

With EGBAR, you can:

• Bulk-upload paperwork. Just scan the papers and upload them into the claim. No separation is necessary.
• Enable one-click injury claim notification through several leading sports EMRS, such as ATS, SportsWare, and Healthy Roster.
• View claims history.
• Generate and receive reports detailing claims status, claims by body part, and more.

While the digital services are invaluable, Baron is also quick to share that their A-G account manager and customer service are quick to get him answers when needed. “Getting updates is seamless,” which provides real peace of mind.

4. Risk management services.

At A-G, we provide risk management solutions, including:

• USCAH Institution Risk Assessment
• Cardiac screening with Athletic Heart
• Sparta Science, and more

Additionally, we can provide you with claims reports by body part and information that could help you make a change in training or strength conditioning and affect player safety.

5. Coverage and budget flexibility.

At A-G, we not only have great flexibility in designing your school’s coverage, but we also work with you on premium costs. As mentioned earlier, we collaborate with more than 40 networks, which allows us to control claim costs. But there’s more to it than that. Lower claim costs can ultimately affect underwriting, which in turn can lower premiums. So you get better coverage, service, and costs when choosing an A-G insurance plan.

A-G Helps ATs Get Back to Work

When it comes to choosing sports accident insurance for your school and student-athletes, the right plan is a win-win for everyone:

• Student-athletes and their families have peace of mind. They can concentrate on recovery instead of worrying about medical expenses.
• Colleges and universities can ensure nothing stands in the way of student-athletes getting the care they deserve. They can also help control department budget concerns.
• ATs can eliminate the paperwork and other administrative burdens, allowing them to get back to working with student-athletes.

Use this five-point insurance checklist as a game plan, and you can be sure you’ll make the best coverage decision. You can also schedule a no-obligation call with an A-G sports insurance specialist to learn more about how A-G compares to other plans. Just complete this form (you can ask about an EGBAR demo, too) and we’ll be in touch.