Five Myths About K-12 Student Accident Insurance

As an agent, your priority is finding the right protection for your clients. Their trust in your guidance is critical for building long-lasting relationships and you’re careful to present coverages that meet their unique needs.

One program that could be very important to your school clients is K-12 student accident insurance, but unfortunately, this type of coverage is often misunderstood.

Here at A-G Specialty Insurance, we’ve been protecting schools for more than 30 years. We understand the accident risks schools face. We also understand that many don’t understand accident insurance’s role in protecting both the school and parents from financial exposure. Agents must dispel five major myths to help their school clients understand their risk and protect the students in their care.

Helping Your School Clients Understand The Need For Accident Coverage

Most of the common objections to school accident insurance are based on myths, and there are some strong reasons why these simply aren’t true.

1. Accidents happen to someone else. Except when they don’t.

Unfortunately, the statistics are pretty clear: More than 50 million school children in the United States spend a quarter to a half of their waking hours (sometimes 6 hours or more) at school or on school property. Of those, an estimated 2.2 million children ages 14 and under sustain school-related injuries each year. That’s not just sports injuries. They could be from slipping in spilled milk in the cafeteria, breaking glass in the chem lab, or playing on the playground. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 200,000 children age 14 and younger are treated for playground injuries every year. While having an accident insurance plan in place can’t stop accidents from happening, it can help with the students’ medical care expenses if they do.

2. Our student-athletes are already very well protected. Even the best-laid plans around player safety and training can’t hold up to accidents.

More than 775,000 children participating in sports activities are injured each year, and one in four injuries is considered serious. A school accident insurance plan is crucial to covering medical costs when injuries are treated, especially when students need significant care. It allows parents to concentrate on their child’s recovery, knowing the school is committed to their child’s wellbeing.

3. Parents already have insurance. But it probably won’t cover everything.

Some argue that this kind of school insurance policy isn’t needed because parents have insurance. While that may be true for many, health insurance will likely leave parents responsible for co-pays and deductibles for their child’s medical care. In some cases, they may be fighting over approval of treatments or having to decide to pay themselves.

These unexpected costs can add up. A recent report says that one in six Americans have past-due health care bills on their credit report. Even with health insurance, student accidents can have unseen financial consequences. But if parents don’t have health insurance, a student accident insurance plan becomes the primary protection for the injured child if there are school accident claims.

Student Accident Insurance is intended to make the injured student’s parents financially whole, with no out-of-pocket expenses. Having that protection provides the family and the school with peace of mind that physical recovery and financial assistance is covered. And it greatly reduces the threat of litigation or liability insurance claims.

4. There’s a lot of red tape with insurance. Not when you have the right partner.

Busy school administrators may not want to add another complexity when they’re already overwhelmed with responsibilities. And, as an agent, you might be concerned as well, especially if you aren’t as familiar with student accident insurance or had a frustrating experience with another carrier.

When you have the right Risk Management Program partner, they’ll take all of that away from you. At A-G, we believe Everything is Going to Be All Right, and you will, too, with EGBAR, our powerful claims management system. EGBAR is easy to use and technology that’s unmatched in the industry. You can trust us to resolve claims fairly and equitably and leave no stone unturned when communicating with medical providers and our clients.

5. Student Accident Insurance is Expensive. It’s not as expensive as you think. And helping keep all members of the school community stress-free is priceless.

With its help paying uncovered medical costs, including those times where it may be the child’s only health insurance option, Student Accident Insurance plays an invaluable financial role. But that’s not it’s only financial benefit. By protecting the school from liability claims, it helps shelter the school’s assets. And, it allows the schools to control their budget. By partnering with an accident insurance expert, you will begin to see significant savings because of A-G’s innovative claims discounting approach.

Another value that’s hard to put a price on is the enhancement it may provide to a school’s reputation. Knowing the school considers this an important safeguard to help students and their families suffer as little as possible from unexpected injury sends a strong message.

In addition to these inherent values, the student accident insurance cost is carefully designed and individually tailored for your school client’s needs. Among eligible accident medical expenses covered are:

• Hospital bills (including semi-private room and board)
• Intensive care room and board charges
• Medical or surgical treatment by a licensed doctor, including anesthesia, X-rays, and laboratory tests
• Outpatient charges for emergency room treatments
• Physiotherapy treatment during a hospital stay or on an outpatient basis

Schools can choose coverage based on what matches their unique student situation, including Mandatory, Compulsory, Voluntary, and Catastrophic Accident plans. These plans cover intramural sports, physical education classes, regular school sessions, on and off-campus group activities that are school-sponsored and supervised, and travel directly to and from these activities. The Interscholastic Sports plan covers all interscholastic athletic competitions which are officially authorized, sanctioned, and scheduled by the participating school and governed by the rules and regulations of the appropriate state high school athletic/activities association or related governing body. Learn more about these many flexible options.

Five Reasons Why Schools Do Need Student Accident Insurance

Having dispelled the top five myths about student accident insurance, now it’s easy to share why student accident insurance makes good sense for your school clients.

1. Accidents do happen to everyone.
2. Student-athletes have an even greater risk of needing medical care from an accident.
3. Even if they have insurance, parents have to pay co-pays, deductibles, and other uncovered expenses that student accident insurance can help cover. And for those who don’t have health coverage, student accident insurance takes on the role of primary coverage. All parents have to do is complete a claim form and A-G Specialty Insurance will take care of rest, even processing medical bills. (And most of the time, there are no out-of-pocket medical expenses for the family.)
4. The right carrier makes it easy, cutting through all the red-tape and getting results.
5. A variety of plans mean there’s sure to be one to fit school budget requirements.

At A-G Specialty Insurance, we’ve been covering K-12 insurance needs for more than 30 years. We provide solutions to more than 3,200 K-12 schools and school systems and 3,000 youth sports organizations, including several National Governing Bodies. We’re continually advancing our technology to provide you and your school clients with the best possible service. It’s our history and experience that make the difference.

Visit agspecialtyinsurance.com today to learn more about how we can partner with you to help serve your K-12 school clients. Or start here to get a quote.