Four years ago the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) started to require universities to make their athletes have health insurance coverage before competing in sporting events.  A mistake was made as the Association did not set forth clear standards for the coverage leaving the students to decide for themselves what they needed.  This is all according to the article “College Athletes Stuck With the Bill After Injuries” by Kristina Peterson on nytimes.com.

Some colleges accept a lot of responsibility for medical claims but others assume none according to a review of public documents.  Many university officials say they definitely inform their students about the limits of certain health insurance options, but the situation has left students and families frustrated and very confused as many have had to take on large and unexpected medical bills.

Many athletes have health insurance through their parents but often times the coverage does not include injuries due to varsity sports.  This is where it gets tricky.  They need additional coverage but are unsure where to begin and often do not get enough coverage and are left with mountains of debt.  One solution is to require universities to offer quality coverage to all of their varsity athletes, but this is suspected to put too much of a burden on schools financially.  Because of this the NCAA is unlikely to require that sort of mandate anytime soon.