Settlement affecting FAFSA? Not sure how to move forward.

OP- if you are uninsured, get online ASAP and price out health insurance. I cannot think of a better use of your windfall then to purchase health insurance.

You have no idea if you will have residual effects from the accident. You many need more PT in a few months, you may get referred to a chiropracter for pain management, you may have some nerve damage which was undetected until your other wounds healed.

My heart goes out to you- this sounds really traumatic, but get yourself insured. It is wonderful that your emergent care needs were covered, but you would not be the first person to discover that after the initial accident, there are long term health issues. I’ve had PT twice for the same injury and wow, it was expensive. It was completely covered the first time because it was right after the accident and I was referred by an orthopedic surgeon and I can honestly tell you that I don’t know what it cost. I only had partial coverage the second time because the injury was supposed to have healed (I was in chronic pain) and boy, the sticker shock was incredible. For people who have to pay full freight- I cannot imagine it. Yes- my therapist had a doctorate degree and was highly educated and skilled, and the center I went to was clean and well stocked with equipment and maintained. But it is still expensive to treat a long term injury with PT. Meds are cheaper, but I wasn’t interested in that as a solution.

I really appreciate your sympathy. I’ve looked into health insurance but because of where my parents income falls and where my income falls amongst other things, 8k doesnt stretch very far in terms of health insurance - any plan I get that I’d be able to pay the monthly amount on for even a year has insane insane premiums. Plus, the health insurance that is available to me thru the marketplace because of where I legally reside is entirely useless where I reside out of state for college 75% of the year. I was super lucky to have only minimal scarring and not much else according to xrays and cat scans I had at the time. It would be great if I could do it but it isnt something that’s feasible for me in the long term unfortunately.

I agree that health insurance is important. It can be essential. Not having it can be a true heart break. You no longer have to pay by the month as you now have a lump sum on which you can draw. Your college may have student health insurance available.

You did get Reimbursement and even settlement from your mishap. It doesn’t always happen that way.

What college do you attend that doesn’t require health insurance of some kind?