Students will experience the effects of the Affordable Care Act firsthand with the new health insurance plan offered by the University. While students may remain on their parents? health insurance until age 26, they can elect to purchase the revamped student plan, which aims to provide affordable coverage for student health needs.
?The two biggest changes are an increase in benefit for medication and mental health as a result of the Affordable Care Act,? said Jake Rapp, a graduate student from Lawrence. ?The plan was designed for the student health insurance market, which assumes students are young and healthy single people.?
Rapp served on the Student Insurance Advisory Committee to the Kansas Board of Regents, which was tasked with making a student insurance plan that complied with the health care reform.
Because most students just need prescription drug coverage and access to general care, Rapp said, the new plan at $104 a month is much lower than standard plans. Rapp finds purchasing the student plan less expensive than being covered by his wife?s health insurance offered by her professional employer.
Currently, more than 3,000 KU students purchase the Regent?s insurance plan, and Diana Gillespie, associate director of KU Student Health Services, expects this number to only increase. While insurance companies are required to allow students to remain on their parents? plan through age 25, the increased premiums may make the Regent?s plan more affordable, she said.? Gillespie pointed to pharmaceuticals covered up to $100,000 previously capped at $2,500, full generic contraceptive coverage and congenital conditions covered up to $20,000 as changes that make the revised plan more competitive for students.
Mary Beth Chambers, spokesperson for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas, said staying on a parent?s policy or using the Regent?s plan would likely be most cost-effective for students. Although students may remain on their parents? plan longer, Chambers did not anticipate a significant impact on the cost of health insurance.
?It?s been the trend for the cost of health insurance premiums to increase substantially based solely on students remaining on their parents? plans,? Chambers said.? On the Blue Cross and Blue Shield website, students can view the plans available based on their age, gender and benefits desired.
Travis Wentworth, a graduate student from Berwick, Maine, has been satisfied with his student insurance so far, especially after he injured his knee last year.
?I had knee surgery, and the insurance covered about 80 percent of the surgery cost,? Wentworth said. He has heard other graduate students complain about the Regent?s plan not covering some of their health needs, though.
The plan currently covers treatment for each condition up to $100,000, which will increase to $500,000 in 2014 and will become unlimited in 2017 because of the Affordable Care Act provisions.? While $100,000 might not be enough to cover a catastrophic condition such as cancer, Rapp said the statistical probability of such a condition is very low for students.? And if students want catastrophic coverage, he recommended purchasing it separately from an independent provider.
Students should be able to use their insurance most everywhere, Gillespie said, since the plan?s provider, United Health Care, is accepted across the country. Even if students choose a different insurance policy, Gillespie encourages all students to be covered at all times.
?Unexpected medical expenses are one of the biggest reasons students aren?t able to complete their education,? Gillespie said. ?We want to make sure they have the protection they need to avoid those expenses.?
? Edited by Joanna Hlavacek
Source: http://kansan.com/news/2012/09/25/university-unveils-new-student-health-insurance-plan/
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