N.J. legislators to introduce student accident insurance bill

New Jersey lawmakers plan to introduce legislation that would require the state’s public schools to carry insurance for students who participate in extracurriculars.

The absence of student accident insurance at some school districts means athletes must absorb medical expenses for injuries suffered while playing sports. According to NorthJersey.com, the insurance became an issue when Paterson Public Schools dropped it, forcing parents to pay thousands in doctors bills.

From NorthJersey.com:

Cutting the insurance coverage saved the district roughly $400,000. But its elimination could cost parents such as Khadijah Davis – whose son had surgery Sept. 10 and spent four nights at St. Joseph’s – thousands of dollars in medical bills that the Paterson Public Schools’ student accident insurance previously covered.

As of Wednesday night, Davis had not received the anticipated bills for her son’s care.

“This is weird to me,” Davis said, “being that I work at a vocational school and they make sure they have that supplemental insurance for any of the students that are injured. I contacted Quashawn’s coach [Ken Eatman] the next day, and he informed me [Paterson] no longer [has] that insurance. I was a little disturbed by that.

“He got hurt playing for his school, and you’re telling me you don’t have any type of insurance if one of the students gets injured?”

As a result, State Sen. Paul A. Sarlo and Assemblyman Benjie Wimberly plan to sponsor legislation requiring school districts to offer such coverage. In a joint statement, they said it’s the responsibility of schools to offer protection to students who are injured in school-sponsored events.

 

There was no indication of when the bill would be introduced or the kind of support it would have in the state legislature.

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