AZCOM Insurance

[exia80]

please help....i need info about any insurance issues and whether the school insurance is any good. i am on the Army HPSP so i am considering getting private insurance that covers dental also...any help would be greatly appreciated

i was looking at Blue Cross Blue Shield but looks sorta expensive

i also dislike most HMO's and woudl like to stay away from those as much as possible (mostly cause of confidentiality issues)

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[Aloha Kid]

exia80,

From what I hear, the major issue among students is the deductable that is involved before the thing even begins to kick in.

If you are trying to insure your family as well, the deductable is like $500 or so.

If you can find anything for the same coverage, same price, but without such high deductables, then I would go for that.

If you are single and don't really go to the doctor much, then the deductable really shouldn't nail you to bad.

Other options include Student SOMA insurance that is pretty good coverage especially for catastrophic things. THe price is also the cheapest I've seen. It's a national insurance so it's kind of weird. Like, you have to mail in your claims yourself after you paid full price. Kind of seems like a coupon/discount club. No child immunization or well visits. (Can you tell I have kids?) Overall, for the price, and the catastrophic coverage - Good.

 

[cdreed]

As a military scholarship recipient, I would advise you to stay away from the SOMA insurance. There are a lot of exclusions listed within the policy, and you would be expected to cover such costs out of pocket. The Dean of Student Services at AZCOM told me about a student that had a motorcycle accident a couple of years ago and was left with a huge amount of debt that SOMA would not cover. This is just my opinion though. You should call Dr K at Student Services and ask for specifics.

As an AF scholar, I stick with the school's Aetna insurance. The deductible is somewhat high, but for regular office visits (ie colds, headaches) I have not had to meet it. PM me and I will tell you about how most of us meet our deductibles.

The up side to the Aetna is that AZCOM bills the AF directly. I don't ever pay insurance company myself and submit receipts for reimbursement. I don't know if the Army has the same policy though.

I look forward to meeting all the 2008 AZCOMers. If you need any help at all this summer, feel free to PM me. Hopefully, the AMOPS chapter will get some socials together soon, so that you can meet other HPSP recipients. We did not have any Army in 2007. But I hear that there are a few in 2008.

Hope this helps some.

Cyndi

 

[exia80]

i heard SOMA insurance sucks big time. where can i find out more about Aetna insurance? is that a blue cross blue shield insurnace? i heard that from someone but i could be wrong

 

[jhug]

PM me and I will tell you about how most of us meet our deductibles

do you have a family?
i have the NHSC scholarship but found it too expensive to pay for insurance for my entire fam so we went the medicaid route. They had my wife as a man for almost a year...but other than that it has been a really good means-to-an-end type deal.

 

[ellemarii]

i have a friend who is going there currently and he said that most of the students end up getting AHCCCS after their first year...apparently the administration doesn't let students know that this is an option (or so i've been told)...so they don't find out about it until it's too late. there is supposed to be some sort of clause that allows full time medical students to have access to this program. i could be wrong, but it may be something worth checking into. the university's insurance is ridiculously expensive.

 

[jhug]

i don't think the admin is hiding the fact that we can use it...they just don't advertise it...at our orientation ahcccs ( Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System...ie:medicaid) was mentioned, but in passing. Elle, when do you guys start up?

 

[ellemarii]

i don't think the admin is hiding the fact that we can use it...they just don't advertise it...at our orientation ahcccs ( Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System...ie:medicaid) was mentioned, but in passing. Elle, when do you guys start up?

next week! orientation starts tuesday and runs through the week, with our white coat ceremony on friday the 23rd.

yeah, i don't think they hide it, more that they don't really give too much information about it, so students don't look into it. i almost chose azcom so that was the route i was planning on - since everything is so expensive, saving money any way i could was important for me!

 

[exia80]

i have no famiily...and i am not sure i would qualify for medicaid because don't they check if you own a place to live and stuff???


insurance is very expensive.....sigh

 

[jhug]

as far as i know (and in my case), all they look at is income...(with the loans (or stipends) counting as income) As a single person, i'm not sure what the cut-off is...
elle may be on to something by saying there is a clause for med students though...very much worth looking into.