ATHLETICS TRAINING PROCEDURES

Medical Insurance Policies
The CSF Department of Athletics provides outstanding care to its student-athletes.  It also provides insurance coverage within specific NCAA limitations and guidelines.  The following is an explanation of the university's procedures concerning athletics injuries and payment of medical expenses.  As a student-athlete at CSF, it is extremely important that you understand the nature of the medical insurance policy provided for athletics injuries.  

•	Only those medical expenses due to injury or illness sustained by the student-athlete as a direct result of practice or participation in intercollegiate athletics at CSF and cleared by the Certified Athletics Training Staff can be covered by our insurance policy.  Expenses to treat a student-athlete's injury or illness not a result of practice or participation in intercollegiate athletics at CSF  can not be covered.  These include off-season, non-team-related orthopedic injuries, pre-existing injuries, or medical procedures such as cardiac testing, appendectomy, tonsillectomy, hernia, etc.  Therefore, it is recommended that all student-athletes carry health and accident insurance that will cover them in the above types of situations.  Also, please note that the insurance coverage for any injury will be in effect for two years from the date the injury occurred and will expire after that time period.

•	In all cases involving an injury due to competition or organized practice, the Department of Athletics’ insurance is considered excess, or secondary, and the athlete's personal or parental health insurance is considered primary.  This means that the student-athlete and/or his/her parents must first submit a claim to the primary health insurance company.  After it has paid on the allowable charges, a copy of the Explanation of Benefits and/or a statement showing the balance should be sent to the Head Athletics Trainer.  The balance will then be paid by CSF insurance.  No expenses should be incurred by the student-athlete or his/her parents if the medical problem is due to participation in CSF intercollegiate sports.  Therefore, if there are any deductibles or expenses not covered by the primary insurance, please contact the Head Athletics Trainer, and CSF will take care of those charges.

•	Student-athletes with HMO (Health Maintenance Organizations such as Kaiser, Maxicare, Cigna, Foundation, etc.) insurance, must visit their HMO physician for primary evaluation, diagnostic testing, and surgical procedures (unless cleared by the Department of Athletics administration). The CSF athletics training staff will assist in every way to expedite appointments.

•	The Department of Athletics will not be responsible for costs of any medical services except those cleared through the CSF athletics training staff.  Any athlete who takes it upon him/ herself to seek medical services without authorization from the CSF team physician or athletics training staff does so at his/her own expense.

•	Minor injuries, minor illnesses, and other medical concerns are taken care of by the athletics training staff, the CSF Health Center medical staff, and the team physicians.  The student-athlete should report any injury and/or illness to the athletics training staff as soon as possible.

Health Screening and Physical Exam Procedures
The Department of Athletics requires every student-athlete to obtain a yearly physical examination prior to the beginning of his/her intercollegiate practices and/or competitions.  This is facilitated by the athletics training room staff in one of two ways:

•	The student-athlete may choose to obtain a physical exam from the CSF Student Health Center.  There is no fee for this service, and it is a simple process: The student-athlete first must receive a health center referral form from the athletics training room.  Then he/she reports to the health center for the first phase of evaluation, which is the laboratory work (i.e. blood and urine tests).  No appointment is necessary for this.  The student-athlete may walk in at any time during regular health center hours.  After the lab work has been completed, the student-athlete will be given an appointment to be seen by a physician, who will complete a physical examination.  (Any student-athlete who does not keep the appointment without calling to reschedule will be charged $35.00 by the health center.)  Upon completion of the examination, the health center will provide a verification form to the student-athlete, who must then present this verification to athletics training personnel.  It should be noted that a student-athlete must be officially admitted to the University in order to obtain services from the health center and the athletics training room.

•	A student-athlete may obtain a physical exam from an off-campus source, although a CSF physical form, available in the athletics training room, should be used.  Should a student-athlete choose to do this, all costs would be his/her responsibility.  Once the student-athlete has received clearance from his/her outside physician, written verification must be presented to athletics training personnel.

All physicals will be considered current for 12 months from the date of the exam.  At that time, the student-athlete will be required to obtain an updated physical exam.