Students attending Portland State in 2012–13 will see extensive changes in the student insurance plan. Five years in the making, the new insurance plan is more comprehensive and more similar to a traditional insurance plan, offering benefits well beyond what current students have. However, the new plan, while a significant upgrade, also comes at a high price.
Students attending Portland State in 2012–13 will see extensive changes in the student insurance plan. Five years in the making, the new insurance plan is more comprehensive and more similar to a traditional insurance plan, offering benefits well beyond what current students have. However, the new plan, while a significant upgrade, also comes at a high price.
Currently, students taking more than five credits pay $230 per term—$111 for the basic insurance plan and a $119 fee for health services at the Center for Student Health and Counseling. The new plan, which will take effect Sept. 20, 2012, will cost students taking more than five credits $679 per term—$560 for the insurance plan and $119 for the SHAC health fee. Students who have comparable plans from either an employer or through their parents will have the option to waive out of the new plan.
“The [current] basic plan is really not a major medical plan; it’s only an accident and illness plan,” said Jessica Cole, SHAC associate director. “It’s not comparable to what you’d get as an employer-based plan or something that your parental plan would provide. It’s just there for emergency purposes.”
According to SHAC’s website, the current basic plan benefits include “partial payments for hospitalization, physician’s home and office visits, ambulance service, x-ray and laboratory work, surgery and pregnancy expenses.” The new plan significantly expands the benefits afforded to students.
Under the new plan, students would get $100,000 of annual maximum benefits compared to the previous $7,500 per condition limit. Prescriptions, not covered by the old plan, will be covered up to $100,000, including birth control. Emergency, hospital and surgery costs are now covered, including transgender surgery, which was not before. Additional coverages include routine visits, immunizations, physical therapy and chiropractic service, and outpatient physician and counseling, among others. More detailed information on the new plan can be found online at pdx.edu/shac/insurancebenefits.
One major change accompanying the new plan is that students who take the required five-credit minimum in eligible classes during spring term will also have continued coverage throughout the summer. Even students who graduate in June will have coverage through September.There is no additional cost for the extended coverage.
The new plan is the result of a five-year collaborative effort of SHAC, the Associated Students of Portland State University, the student health advisory board, PSU administrators and individual PSU students. According to survey results provided by Angela Abel, SHAC marketing and communication coordinator, at least half of PSU students don’t have personal insurance and depend on the PSU student plan, and 78.9 percent of students would have to drop out of school if faced with a major medical issue.
“That was important information for us,” said SHAC Executive Director Dana Tasson. “We knew that insurance was important to students.”
History graduate student and student insurance advocate Nick Walden Poublon was faced with an illness a few years ago that put him in a tough situation. Poublon pointed out that it’s hard being a student, even without having any kind of illness.
“I know that as a student who had been suffering from a fairly serious illness, there were times I had to cut corners; I made decisions between a new prescription or a book, or I decided not to take a class in order to have an MRI,” Poublon said. “I think the hope of this plan is that we don’t put students in that position anymore; that we allow students to focus on being a student.”
Poublon said that the student insurance office deals with students in situations similar to his on a weekly basis. He sees students make difficult decisions that often lead them to leaving school. The benefits afforded under the new plan might make it easier to stay in school.
“I think this benefits all students,” Tasson said. “The students who already have insurance benefit greatly because they are going to be able waive out and not have to pay for insurance that they don’t really need. And students who don’t have other insurance are now going to get a real plan that they can use and that will be helpful.”
Students who believe they might have comparable plans and wish to waive out of the new insurance plan will have to go through the online waiver process by Oct. 7, 2012. Students will be asked to answer six questions: Does your plan provide primary care services within 25 miles of PSU? Does your plan have less than a $500 yearly deductible? Does your plan offer inpatient and outpatient mental health benefits? Does your plan pay for at least 80 percent of inpatient hospitalization? Does your plan cover at least $100,000 medical maximum? Does your plan have prescription coverage?
After answering the questions and being approved, students are waived for the entire academic year. According to Cole there is an appeal process handled at SHAC for students denied waivers. More information on the waiver process can be found online at pdx.edu/shac/insurancewaiver.
Being waived from the insurance plan does not mean that students are unable to use SHAC and the resources it provides. That is a separate fee, which all students are required to pay outside of any insurance.
This plan would see student insurance expenses rise from $444/year under the current basic plan, to $1680/year under the new plan. That is almost QUADRUPLE the cost!
Many students, including myself, are barely making it through college financially as it is. Suddenly imposing an extra $1240/year in costs, out of our pockets, to get an education is unbelievably punitive and shortsighted.
SHAC executive director Tasson says this “benefits all students”, and part of the rationale is that sudden expensive illness could force a student out of school, under the current basic insurance. But now he has created a situation where students DEFINITELY are forced to fork over an extra $1240 to an insurance company, which will force some students to have to abandon school rather than paying this new, onerous fee, or at least make financing their education much more stressful than it already is.
Piling a huge amount of extra financial stress on students does not make for better learning.
$1240 is 9 hours of resident tuition at PSU, almost fulltime for a term. It’s nearly 20% of an entire academic year of fulltime undergraduate tuition and fees at PSU – effectively a 20% jacking up of our education costs. To feed an insurance company in our already insanely overpriced, dysfunctional healthcare system which fewer and fewer people can afford.
I call on director Tasson and the university administration to continue offering the low-cost accident plan so many students rely on now. Yes, everyone should have comprehensive health coverage; but few students can afford it. Dictating that students now buy such expensive coverage is not a solution.
Anyone in the PSU community is welcome to contact me if they are also outraged by this sudden, exorbitant hike, which was done with little to no transparency to the university community.
Jim Miller
[email protected]
I completely agree, Jim! Combined with the tuition hike that we’re expecting, this new health will force more students out of college than an “unexpected illness”.
I second allowing the lower priced accident plan to be made available to students who cannot afford the new plan.
I agree with both of your insights on this issue. It’s absurd to think that adding an addtional $500-600 a term is going to relieve most students worries by the benefits of extended health coverage; especially when there are so many independent students who have to work extra hours just to afford bills due to tuition increases. This so called prepared and infallible plan to give students extended coverage was made ignorant to all of the possible impacts that it could have on a variety of students, who in many aspects, need a more financially feasible option because they are overloaded with financial obligations- most of which are school and living expenses. This type of compounding debt on top of a person who’s “supposed” to be developing their mind and adhearing to new concepts only obstructs that process by the added stress. Students who depend on themselves and financial aid to make it through the year aren’t given any alternative like a student who’s able to opt out because their parents provide the alternative means of insurance. Also, by opting out they are able to avoid sustaining the extra $500-600 a month on their tuition bills. This type of 1-way corraling people into a more expensive health care is ill prepared to say the least, and only seems be benefitial to the insurance company providing it. ISN’T SCHOOL SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT STUDENTS AND THEIR DEVELOPMENT AS HEALTHY EDUCATED INDIVIDUALS, AND PROVIDING A FEASIBLE PATHWAY FOR THEM TO DO SO??????
Correction on the last part of my post, it’s 500-600 per term…..but still it’s way too expensive to not offer a cheaper alternative.
But…but…but…Obamacare was supposed to make health insurance cheaper!
Ten to one the university is getting some kind of kickback on this. I just don’t see even PSU raping students this badly unless someone was getting paid off.