Financial Management of Medical Care Expenses of Student-Athletes in Institutions of Higher Education

Abstract

Within institutions of higher education, the call for cost containment and accountability extended to all departments, including intercollegiate athletic departments. Intercollegiate athletic departments’ spending continued to increase as did the public interest in how this affected and was managed within institutions of higher education already experiencing financial strain. These challenges of higher education finance met the complexities of risk management, insurance, and health care in the management of medical expenses for student-athletes. As athletic department administrators sought more proactive and prudent forecasting and management approaches, objective data on spending in all areas was needed. Furthermore, NCAA institutions were searching for best practices in managing National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) policy requirements/recommendations and increased student-athlete benefit allowances. This study sought to identify expenses applied to institutional budgets and the policies and strategies used within institutions of higher education in the financial management of medical expenses for care of student-athletes. This study focused on those NCAA FBS member institutions, known as the Power Five Conferences, who were granted autonomy by the NCAA in legislation and have commonality in the extent of available resources. This study further sought to identify common practices and discover whether relationships could be identified between the institutional choice of policy or strategy used in the management of medical expenses and the medical expenses applied to institutional budgets.