High School Sports Injuries - Your School May Not Be Insured!

Do you have a student athlete in high school or middle school? If so, you may want to read this article thoroughly.
Student athletes work hard day in and day out to do well in sports.  Although some of these athletes consider the sport as a career, most just want to have fun doing something they enjoy.  The hard working athletes just want to be recognized and feel as if they’re doing something for the community while having fun at the same time, but is all the praise, fame, and glory worthwhile?
Most would say yes.  But I bet the parents of student athletes in Texas would reconsider if they realized that in the state of Texas it is not mandatory to provide insurance for the students if they get hurt while playing school sports.  You read that right – schools are not required to insure their student athletes!
Eddie Canales, a parent of a Texas high school student wants to let the other Texas high school parents know that, “Your sons or daughters may represent their school on the playing field.  But if they get seriously injured in games or practice, Texas doesn’t require the school to insure their medical care.” Canales did not realize that his sons school did not cover medical insurance until his son got injured and they had to pull money from various places to make ends meet.
What have you noticed about this article?  It singles out and applies only to Texas. That’s right. While other states mandate that their high schools provide medical insurance to their players in the case of injury, the state known for their High School football does not.  Why just Texas you may ask?  Well, according to the districts in Texas who choose not to provide medical insurance coverage, it is because of budgeting cuts and a lack of funds.  On the other hand, many others say that medical insurance for an entire school is relatively cheap.  I’m sure that most every parent would argue that their child’s safety is more important than budgetary costs, and I can see this being fought in the future.
I encourage you to find out what the medical insurance policy is (or even if there is one) at your child’s school before you find yourself in a situation such as Ms. Canales’.