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UT selects new student health insurance carrier, offers new plans with expanded benefits |
| By
Jim Winkler |
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Aug 8, 2008
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The University of Toledo has selected a new health insurance carrier — Aetna Student Health — to replace two current providers and to offer more comprehensive coverage for students on Main and Health Science campuses.
Aetna will provide one plan for undergraduate, law and graduate students from all campuses and a separate plan for medical students. Last year, Maksin was the provider for students on Main Campus — which includes students on Toledo Museum of Art and Scott Park campuses — and Health Sciences Assurance Consulting/Medical Mutual of Ohio was provider for Health Science Campus students.
Aetna Student Health was selected because it will provide coverage for all UT students at a substantial savings compared to the quotes the University received from last year’s companies with a guaranteed flat rate for both the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 academic years.
In addition, all students will have better prescription coverage, including vision and discount dental coverage, and they will be reimbursed 100 percent at the UT Medical Center and the student health centers on both campuses, according to Dr. Patricia Metting, vice provost for student affairs on Health Science Campus and a member of the Student Health Insurance Advisory Committee (SHIAC) that recommended Aetna as the new provider after three months of study.
Like many other universities, UT requires students to have health insurance if they are enrolled for six or more on-campus hours. International students enrolled for one or more credit hours are mandated by the federal government to have insurance in order to attend UT. In addition, all medical students are required to have health insurance according to the accreditation standards for the program.
Students who are required to have health insurance are billed for the premium on their student account unless they prove that they are insured under their parents, spouses or employers or that they have another plan that offers comparable or better coverage than their respective Aetna Student Health plan sponsored by the University. An online waiver system has been set up through the self-services tab in the myUT portal for students to request a waiver.
Aetna Student Health also will provide coverage to all eligible students who wish to enroll their spouses, domestic partners or children. Students can elect options through the waiver Web site and will be responsible for paying the additional premium directly to the insurance company.
Metting stressed that mandatory health insurance coverage for UT students is consistent with the University’s mission “to improve the human condition,” and its core values of wellness, healing and safety aimed at promoting students’ physical and mental well-being and safety.
“The risk of some health problems, including respiratory infections, accidents and sexually transmitted diseases, is higher in the college population, so it’s crucial that students have coverage,” Metting explained. “Experience has shown that illness or injury can leave uninsured students with crippling medical bills that often force them to drop out of school. Uninsured students who become sick or injured and are forced to drop out also hurt the University’s retention rate.”
The plans are the result of work by the SHIAC, which consists of students, faculty, staff and administration representing all campuses and both student health centers. The committee sent out requests for bids last March, evaluated coverage and costs contained in proposals submitted by five companies, and recommended Aetna Student Health to President Lloyd Jacobs and other senior administrative officials. Aetna Student Health’s proposal was best in terms of price and coverage.
Metting said the new plan will benefit students because of the improved array of services, including easy referral to inpatient and outpatient health services offered by the UT Medical Center and other Toledo-area hospitals in the Aetna network of provider hospitals, and a two-year fixed rate.
“The fixed rate will be very beneficial for our students, given the double-digit increases in premiums both campuses endured last year and the national trends of increased medical and prescription costs, which are running an average of 10 to 12 percent annually for student plans,” Metting said.
Because Aetna is a nationwide network, the health insurance will work in the other parts of the country.
Aetna Student Health also will administer all aspects of the plan, including the waiver process, with no broker and third-party parties involved, saving money.
For single undergraduate, law and graduate students on all campuses, premiums for the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 school years will cost $1,565. The quote by the University’s current student health insurance provider — Maksin — was $1,704, a 29 percent increase over its 2007-2008 premium rate of $1,325.
The Aetna policy also includes a $1,000-a-year prescription benefit, up from $750, eliminates a $3,000 cap on inpatient/outpatient hospital miscellaneous expenses, covers the entire cost for treatment at the UT Medical Center, and eliminates the deductible for care rendered by members of University of Toledo Physicians Inc., the UT physicians’ practice plan.
It also provides free screening for chlamydia and gonorrhea, physiotherapy for non-injury related conditions, full vision plan, an optional discount dental plan for $25 a year, and medical evacuation and repatriation coverage for international students.
The plan, however, does not cover immunizations.
Premiums for students with spouses, domestic partners and children are higher.
By comparison, the annual premiums in 2008-2009 for students at the University of Michigan, Ohio State University and the University of Cincinnati are $2,350, $2,060 and $1,736, respectively. Students at Cleveland State University, Bowling Green State University and Ohio University have lower premiums.
Under the basic plan for medical students, single students will pay a $2,006 annual premium, which is $438 less than $2,444 premium proposed by current provider Health Sciences Assurance Consulting/Medical Mutual of Ohio. The new basic plan also includes full vision and discount dental coverage, no co-pays for office visits to University Health Services, 100 percent reimbursement for all services obtained from the UT Medical Center and UT physicians, and replacement of the required mail order for prescriptions with pharmacy services at UT Medical Center and Student Medical Center pharmacies. The policy will pay $1,000 per year for well child-care visits, up from $500. Medical students can opt for an enhanced plan, which offers the same benefits as the basic plan but with 100 percent reimbursement for in-network charges. The annual premium for single coverage for the enhanced medical student plan is $2,213, which is $754 less than the proposed $2,967 premium of Health Sciences Assurance Consulting/Medical Mutual of Ohio.
Metting said the committee worked very hard to keep premiums as low as possible for students while providing the most benefits.
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