Athletes and injuries go hand in hand. It’s an aspect of the sport that can leave players out for a few games, a season, or sometimes under the worst of circumstances, for life. It’s important that not only athletes are aware of health insurance policies here on campus but as well as non-athletes.

The University of North Carolina Wilmington’s insurance policy is known as Student Blue, a Blue Cross Blue Shield product. This insurance policy is nation-wide and world-wide and is used by all 16 schools within the UNC system. The school ensures two thousand students here at UNCW that includes both athletes and non-athletes. Members pay $863 per semester.

The insurance policy is 80/20. This means that the insurance will pay 80 percent of a bill and the student or athlete will pay 20 percent of the cost. This raises the question: if students, especially athletes, are paying 100 percent of the $863 per semester, why aren’t they getting covered 100 percent? The Director of Student Health, Katrin Wesner, explained the policy thoroughly.

“Your deductible is the amount you pay before your insurance starts paying,” said Wesner. “Once you’ve reached the policy’s deductible, $500, the insurance pays 80 percent and you pay 20 percent. Remember, it’s 80 percent of an unlimited amount.”

Once that deductible is reached, the insurance will kick in and pay the rest. The school’s insurance policy maximizes what students need. Wesner also mentions the importance of insurance and what is most desired out of an insurance policy.

“When looking at an insurance policy, you want to get the lowest deductible and the lowest out of pocket maximum you can,” said Wesner.

Through the NCAA, student athletes are also insured with a secondary policy. The school purchases a secondary policy through Mutual of Omaha resulting in a five thousand dollar deductible. This means that the bills must reach five thousand before the insurance can cover anything.

UNCW also purchases a third form of policy for student athletes along with the primary and secondary insurance policy known as a catastrophic injury policy. A catastrophic injury is defined as a severe injury and as a result of that injury; there will be consequences down the road. The school’s insurance will cover and pay three years up to the incident date.

“We want every athlete to leave as healthy as they came in,” said Sheri Brinson, Athletic Business Operations Associate.

With injuries being a common reoccurrence within sports, trainers and coaches take extra care in making sure injuries and accidents are prevented as much as possible.

“From a standpoint of the athletic training room we are all about prevention,” said Scott Hill, Director of Athletic Training. “All of our athletes do a pre-season physical with our team’s physicians when they come in as freshmen. We do movement analysis screenings and look at where there might be deficits and correct them.”

All students who purchase the school’s insurance, Student Blue, are all under the same plan and benefits whether or not they participate in athletics. Student Blue is geared towards student’s needs and increased some of the covered benefits students receive when purchasing the insurance policy.

“We set it up so that it includes routine and preventative care,” said Wesner. “You can have one mental health or substance abuse visit every day for a whole year. It also covers eating disorder treatments and physical therapy.”

With a various amount of athletes and students signing up for the school’s insurance, it’s important to understand how the process works and also the many benefits that the school’s health insurance provides.