Got insurance?
The premiums for USU’s student health insurance are dropping 15 percent next year due to decreased claims during the 2005-2006 school year, according to the Health and Wellness Center’s insurance coordinator.
Noelle Hansen said the insurance company that USU contracts with wanted to help the students out since USU had a year with lower-than-usual claims.
“Since we actually had a good year, the insurance company wanted to give back,” Hansen said. “We hope this move will help students feel like they can purchase the university’s insurance.”
USU offers a basic health insurance plan through FirstUnderwriters, which is available to all university students taking six or more credits and their dependents, according to the Student Health and Wellness Center Web site. There are two choices to choose from. Plan I offers a maximum benefit of $50,000 a year while Plan II offers a maximum benefit of $250,000.
This insurance plan, based on sending people to the already-free student health center, currently charges $2,136 annually for Plan I and $2,425 annually for Plan II. Both these plans are designed for single students.
For married students with no children, that price goes up to $7,454 annually for Plan I and $8,509 annually for Plan II.
Both plans require that a student must visit the student health center with all problems first before they can be written a referral to an off-campus doctor, unless the health center is closed and the problem requires immediate attention.
Even if a student’s problem cannot be treated at the health center, it does not necessarily mean they will be given a referral to have it treated off campus. USU health insurance does not cover allergy testing, acne treatment, dental treatment (except accidental injury to healthy teeth), sleep disorders, preventative care or foot care for bunions, corns, fallen arches or toenails.
Although USU health insurance does not cover everything, it requires no deductibles, the amount of money the insured person pays out of their pocket before the insurance company will pay any money. Rather, the company requires a smaller co-pay of $30 per doctor office visit and $250 for a visit to the emergency room. The insured person must also pay 30 percent of the balance for services not provided at the health center, such as surgeries and anesthesia.
Hansen said the Student Health Advisory Committee has chosen to require co-pays instead of deductibles because deductibles end up costing students more money and do not save those who do not use the insurance very much money in the long run.
“What a deductible really winds up being is a hidden premium,” Hansen said. “Even the insurance company didn’t recommend implementing a deductible.”
With the 15 percent decrease next year, the plans will drop in price, but USU’s health insurance will still cost more than twice as much a month compared to popular plans from Select Health.
Hansen said even though the plans still cost more money than other health plans, she sees two reasons students should pick the university’s health plan over other plans: Nobody can be rejected by USU insurance, and it has maternity benefits with no deductible.
“USU’s insurance has to accept students regardless of their past medical history, so students who are considered uninsurable can get insurance,” Hansen said. “The maternity benefit is also wonderful because it falls under Title IX, so the company has to cover it like any other condition and cannot charge the typical $5,000 deductible.”
Some students, like Megan Schow, a senior majoring in music education, think the costs outweigh the benefits.
“The price is ridiculous,” Schow said. “They have to accept everybody – people who are dying – they have to accept them, so it makes the price outrageous. It was going to be like $800 a month for my husband and me.”
If the price of the school’s health insurance is too expensive, what options are left open to students? Some options are to find an alternative insurance company or to go without insurance at all, hoping that the health center will be able to take care of all of their needs. But the health center doesn’t cover everything.
When a student goes to the health center, he or she is required to pay for lab tests, X-rays and prescriptions, which can cost quite a bit without insurance. Allison Dawes, a senior majoring in elementary and early childhood education, said she found this out the hard way.
“Over Spring Break my husband got sick so I took him to the health center because we knew that it would be free,” Dawes said. “But then they told us he had Influenza A and needed a prescription that would cost us $100 without insurance, and since our insurance hadn’t gone through yet, we had to pay it.”
Dawes said their health insurance has since gone through and they keep it as their backup plan in case of any other major medical expenses.
“I would rather pay the $160 dollars a month to Select Health than risk a huge medical bill,” Dawes said.
Insurance protects people against having to pay large hospital bills, but even though insurance is a good idea, sometimes the money to pay the premium just isn’t there, said Heather Holmes, a sophomore majoring in piano pedagogy,
“I know that it is smart to have health insurance because accidents happen and you might end up paying thousands of dollars in bills, but we are students and we don’t have any money, so health insurance is just too expensive,” Holmes said.
Even though some students say they cannot afford health insurance, Hansen said she supports mandatory health insurance for USU students but for different reasons than some people might think.
“I look at health insurance as a protection rather than a financial burden,” Hansen said. “I have students come in and lay their head on my desk and cry and cry because they have a $17,000 medical bill from an emergency that they can’t pay. It is horrifying to see these students without health insurance.”
Hansen said Logan Regional Hospital does have a financial program in place to help people without insurance pay their medical bills, but the fact that students have the access to insurance and choose not to take it could hurt their ability to get financial assistance.
“Students are still eligible for financial help through the hospital, but what kind of assistance and how much assistance they will receive is based on the fact that the students have access to insurance and choose not to take it,” Hansen said.
Hansen said while she is in favor of mandatory health insurance for enrollment at USU, she does not believe people without insurance should be forced to purchase through USU’s program.
“I do not agree with forcing a student to purchase a particular policy. I do not agree with forcing students to spend a particular amount of money,” Hansen said.
-debrajoy@cc.usu.edu