Weighing the pros and cons of student health insurance
28 03 08 - 11:31
Majority of students at UNLV are unaware of insurance plan
By: Brian Ahern, Managing Editor
If it were up to Lisa Valdespino she would have been bitten on a Monday morning.
Then she could have used her UNLV student health insurance at the campus health center, pay only 20 percent of the treatment cost and avoid mounds of paperwork.
Instead, the dog attacked her after the clinic had closed on a Friday afternoon, forcing her to front the money at a local University Medical Center and face the "hassle" of getting her insurance to reimburse her for the bill.
"The process was ridiculous," Valdespino said. "I ended up not getting anything reimbursed."
She added that she was lucky because she already knew the dog and didn't have to receive rabies shots.
"If I had to get the shots it would have been really expensive," she said.
Valdespino's experience, however, is not one that is commonly felt throughout campus. In fact, many students aren't even aware UNLV has a campus health care clinic – let alone its own health insurance.
But whether or not they use it, they are paying for it.
Currently, every UNLV student already pays a standard health services fee of $53 per semester. That money goes toward free health center services like flu shots, condoms, diabetic screenings and over-the-counter medications for common ailments like colds and coughs. Also funded through the fees are complimentary psychological services and counseling.
The Student Health Center provides vision and hearing testing, immunization, dermatological and gynecological services and sports medicine treatment. They even have a licensed pharmacy for standard prescription and non-prescription drugs.
These services prove especially valuable for students living on and off campus. They can receive treatment for minor illnesses and obtain health supplies all at the university's health center without ever leaving campus.
But for problems like Valdespino's, problems that require doctors and prescription medicine, the costs begin to add up. Though UNLV's health center has doctors on staff and a pharmacy, these services are not included in the student health fee. And while many students have health insurance through their family's health plan, the university does not bill outside insurance companies.
That means that students under their parents' insurance would have to foot the entire bill if they receive treatment on campus. That's because with thousands of students hailing from countless different regions, it's difficult for the university clinic to register with so many different insurers.
Also, if UNLV's health center accepts outside insurance companies, it might have to treat customers of that company who were not in any way affiliated with the university as well. Essentially, the students' burden of paying for campus health care is constantly at odds with the university's burden of providing it to as many people as possible.
So like many universities across the nation, UNLV offers its own school-sponsored health insurance plan.
Since the plan's inception more than 10 years ago, the coverage has been provided by several different companies. Currently, UNLV is partnered with Associated Insurance Plans International.
"We follow the university bidding process whereby the company with the best proposal and price is selected," said Student Wellness Assistant Business Manager Lorraine Brown.
That price is around $1,500 per year for a single student, though the plan can be purchased for single semesters or quarters.
The amount of money saved by students, Brown added, depends entirely on how often they visit the clinic.
"The policy is an 80/20 plan for in-network services with a referral from Student Wellness," Brown said. "For example, a student receiving a strep [throat] test ($23) from the Student Health Center laboratory would be responsible for 20 percent ($4.60) of the charge since the insurance company would reimburse the remaining 80 percent ($18.40)."
Students are also able to use the insurance at UMC locations, but they have to front the cash if they don't have their health insurance card with them, cards that Valdespino described as painful to obtain.
"Getting the cards is a real hassle," she said.
According to Brown, of the close to 30,000 students attending UNLV, only 1,600 are currently enrolled in the university's insurance plan.
International students, who are required to purchase UNLV insurance in order to attend, make up the vast majority of students signed up for the plan. With almost 1,400 international students attending UNLV this semester, only around 200 students have actually chosen to sign up for the insurance.
Kristen Young, director of the Office of International Students and Scholars said international students are required to purchase the insurance because the federal government demands reliable documentation that students from other countries have financial resources that can meet the expenses of studying at a school in the United States.
"Beyond the federal regulations, it is also very helpful for students who come from countries that do not share the same skyrocketing health care costs as we have here in the U.S.," Young said.
"I have seen many examples when the required insurance protected students from financial ruin."
Being a student from the Republic of Korea, accounting major Ashley Jung had to purchase the insurance. Her experience, however, was not as dramatic as Valdespino's. She said she utilized her insurance only a handful of times.
"It cost me nearly nothing except for the one time I had to get some kind of blood exams done," Jung said. "I paid for the exams and they gave me the claim to fill out and mail to the insurance company. It was kind of confusing so I didn't even bother."
Jung added that the main problem she had with the health center was the lack of consistency with doctors.
"Every time I went back to the clinic for follow-ups, different doctors came in to examine me," she said. "They leave notes on the charts, but most of the time I had to explain everything again. It would be much easier for a patient if the same doctor did the follow-up."
Though the UNLV health insurance plan is mandated for international students, domestic undergraduates are largely unaware that the university even offers its own health care plan. Apart from the student health fee added to their tuition bill, UNLV rarely receives any money from these students for health services.
At least UNLV students have a choice in the matter. Places like George Washington University require all students to purchase the school-sponsored health insurance, whether the student already has health insurance or not. That's around $1,000 more added to their tuition bills every year.
Still, health centers at other universities like Georgia Southern are experimenting with accepting outside insurers. Despite the headaches and paperwork involved in registering with so many insurance companies, they found that it's actually a good source of revenue. Fees that the university traditionally waived for students can be billed to insurance companies, giving the university an additional means of gathering money.
When it comes to UNLV, however, it won't be gathering anymore of Valdespino's money for health insurance – she canceled her plan.
"I wouldn't get it again unless I was on constant medication," she said.