New York attorney general investigating the relationships of colleges and health insurance companies that cover students
17 11 08 - 12:37
Cuomo Investigating Colleges’ Deals With Health Insurers
By JONATHAN D. GLATER
The New York attorney general began sending subpoenas and document requests this month to colleges including Columbia, Cornell, Georgetown and several State University of New York campuses as part of an investigation of relationships between the colleges and health insurance companies that cover students.
The investigation by the attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo, appears to be focused on the adequacy of disclosure of policy terms and costs to students. Investigators also appear to be looking into whether colleges are receiving any improper payments in exchange for requiring students to use a particular insurer.
“We are primarily focused on whether insurance companies are paying schools to push students into health coverage they don’t really need and shouldn’t really want,” Benjamin M. Lawsky, special assistant to the attorney general, wrote in an e-mail message. “With students and their families being financially squeezed at every turn, colleges must ensure that they are looking out for students’ best interest first and foremost as opposed to their own financial bottom line.”
The request to State University of New York institutions, for example, asked for copies of colleges’ requests for proposals from insurers, contracts with insurers, statistics on premiums paid and information given to students about available policies, said Megan Galbraith, a spokeswoman for SUNY.
Ms. Galbraith said six institutions had received requests for documents, not subpoenas, from Mr. Cuomo’s office. The schools are Stony Brook, Buffalo State, Oswego, Purchase, the University at Buffalo and Binghamton. SUNY is cooperating with the request, she said.
Representatives of Georgetown, Columbia, Cornell and Sarah Lawrence College said their institutions had received subpoenas.
Parents have complained about rules at some universities that require students to buy health coverage even though many of them are insured by family policies, said James A. Boyle, president of College Parents of America, a nonprofit association of parents of current and prospective college students.
“The vast majority of college students are covered under health insurance from their parents,” Mr. Boyle said, adding that he was glad an investigation was under way. “The vast majority of campus health centers do not accept that insurance as payment for service. Instead, some schools force the student, as a condition of enrollment, to purchase health insurance policies offered by the school.”
The investigation by Mr. Cuomo echoes one undertaken by his office two years ago that examined relationships between student loan companies and colleges. That investigation found that some colleges received payments from individual lenders, based on how much students borrowed from that lender; the arrangements gave the colleges an incentive to steer students to particular loan companies.