Student health insurance in trouble
To the Editor:
This letter is in response to the article “Student Health Insurance in Trouble” that was in the February 4th issue of the Statesman. It states that even though Utah State University offers a good health insurance plan for students that enrollment is down due to higher premium costs. While this may be in part true, it certainly is not the only reason. I decided not to go with the student health insurance again because of the shameless and unethical way the insurance company handled my claim. I had a claim in April 2003 that was not paid until November 2003. Seven months is way to long to wait to have a medical bill paid by an insurance company. The company that provides the student health insurance is in Dallas, TX. This means you have to call and hope that the person you are speaking with is not just saying something to get you off the phone. I spoke with several supervisors. It did not help. They know that you are a student in Utah and there is no way you can confront them face to face, so they can take their time about doing things. The liaison here was informed of the situation and that did not help. I went to the hospital and spoke with the billing department to let them know what the situation was. I was able to speak face to face with someone. They understood exactly and said they had a lot of problems with the student health insurance provider. At one point I considered paying the bill myself, it was not that much and it would have ended the ordeal. However, I thought more about it and realized this was not my responsibility, it was the insurance companies responsibility and they should pay it. It seemed almost as if they were delaying in hopes that I would pay it. In this article it calls the student health insurance “a good health plan.” I would hate to see what bad is. Students in college do not have time to chase after an, illusive, shameless and unethical insurance company for seven months to make sure medical claims are paid.
Gary Sissongsisson@cc.usu.edu435-755-3266Student Number 509801628