School Insurance
The Supreme Court announced Friday that it will hear an appeal by a Massachusetts school district of a state judge’s decision to reject a student’s claim for payment of her student insurance premiums.
Supreme Court to review student insurance rates
A Boston school district allowed a student whose father paid her premiums through insurance, but the school refused to pay for the student’s cancer treatment, citing the policies' student benefits exclusion. The court on Friday announced that it would review the case in April.
Abigail Gross’ family filed a lawsuit in federal court in 2013, claiming that Gross’ “constitutional right to be free from any discrimination, and to receive the benefits of her constitutional rights, are guaranteed by the Massachusetts Constitution and the federal Equal Protection Clause.”
Gross was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, a type of cancer that usually begins in the bone marrow. Her insurance provided only partial coverage for the $22,500 in costs and had an exclusion for cancer treatment.
The school said Gross’ coverage did not cover her cancer treatment because the policy offered health insurance benefits only to students whose families pay school insurance premiums.
Gross argued that the exclusion of “coverage for health care services related to a student’s ongoing health or well-being” would lead to discrimination against her because of her disability.
The Massachusetts court disagreed, noting the school offered policies to students’ families that excluded health insurance. But the court said Gross’ claims to be eligible for the insurance policies were “not true and correct.”
The court added that there was no evidence to support that Gross was singled out for insurance coverage.
This is not the first time the court has taken up a student insurance claim.
The court previously took up the case of Boston school district student Fatema Abbasi, who was ineligible to use her insurance coverage after her father made a different insurance claim on behalf of the student. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in February that the district was not required to pay for the student's medical treatment because of the insurance policy's policy benefits exclusions.
In that case, the court indicated that schools could need insurance policies to guarantee coverage to students.
Read the Massachusetts school case brief from the court of appeals below.
Inform our investigations: Do you have information to share with The IDG News Service about a school or college that may be violating students' rights or misusing student insurance benefits? Please email investigations@idg.com
By Ted Sherman, The IDG News Service
Guest blog: Today’s top news, school and student insurance
Related:
- S.E. Cupp: The biggest school break-up of all
- Have schools fought back against student insurance mandates?
- S.E. Cupp: A brave young cancer patient can’t get her insurance
Jennifer Freeman: School wants me to pay for student insurance. Do I really have to pay for their student insurance, too?
Photo credit: Shutterstock.com
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