UT updates student insurance policy to offer voluntary coverage

August 25, 2015 | UToday
By Staff



The University of Toledo continues to offer health insurance plans for students, but no longer has a policy that requires students to have insurance coverage.

The passage of the Affordable Care Act that requires individuals to have health insurance coverage made it redundant for the University to also have a policy making it mandatory for students to have health insurance, said Dr. Thea Sawicki, vice provost for health science affairs and university accreditation.

“We continue to believe in the importance of all students maintaining health-care coverage to help ensure academic success and well-being, which is why we continue to offer a competitive option for students,” Sawicki said. “This change in policy means that University-offered coverage is voluntary for students to sign up for, rather than it being automatically applied to their accounts and having them opt out if they had other insurance coverage.”

For international students and students who are in a program that requires health-care coverage, the UT student insurance program will continue to be placed on their accounts with the ability to opt out of the UT plan if they have other comparable coverage.

The UT Board of Trustees approved the policy change in June. The mandatory student insurance policy had been in place since 2013.

The policy change also reflects the trend of fewer students using the UT policy because of having other health-care coverage. Only 1,774 students were assessed the UT coverage in fall 2014, compared to 3,825 five years prior in fall 2010.

The Student Health Coverage Plan is run by Student Educational Benefit Trust-Medical Health Services, a subsidiary of Medical Mutual of Ohio. Pharmacy coverage is included, and students also can select optional vision and dental coverage plans.

Information about the insurances plans is available at utoledo.edu/healthservices/student/health_insurance.

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