betrayed by school administration

[curlycorday]

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Hi all,

I was hoping for some advice on this situation... Student health insurance through a specific company is mandatory for my school, and it royally sucks. We've been enrolled for 6 weeks now and just got our cards. Last week, I was injured and had to go to the ER, where I handed registration my insurance card, which then came back that it had an 'invalid group number'... so then I spent 3 hours on the phone with every number listed on the card, all of which couldn't find me in their system and it was a huge hassle. I was told that our policy was expired and that each person needed to contact the company and update info-- basically a huge cluster.

So, I sent a very well-written, email (proofread by my MBA roommate) to my class regarding this, and I carbon-copied it to the student affairs lady in the med school, and the processor for our insurance alluding to what this person said regarding the insurance to get everyone on the same page.

Then, the dean of my med school calls and screams at me, calling me unprofessional for telling everyone in my class that there was a problem with their insurance-- wtf? I apologized for being 'unprofessional' (the MO of my school) even though I thought it was one of the most professional things I've done. Now, do I contact the dean to follow-through and clear it up, or just let it go?

I feel betrayed because the dean should be on our side, not angry because I'm exposing a problem that needs to be fixed...

thanks

 

[Law2Doc]

Hi all,

I was hoping for some advice on this situation... Student health insurance through a specific company is mandatory for my school, and it royally sucks. We've been enrolled for 6 weeks now and just got our cards. Last week, I was injured and had to go to the ER, where I handed registration my insurance card, which then came back that it had an 'invalid group number'... so then I spent 3 hours on the phone with every number listed on the card, all of which couldn't find me in their system and it was a huge hassle. I was told that our policy was expired and that each person needed to contact the company and update info-- basically a huge cluster.

So, I sent a very well-written, email (proofread by my MBA roommate) to my class regarding this, and I carbon-copied it to the student affairs lady in the med school, and the processor for our insurance alluding to what this person said regarding the insurance to get everyone on the same page.

Then, the dean of my med school calls and screams at me, calling me unprofessional for telling everyone in my class that there was a problem with their insurance-- wtf? I apologized for being 'unprofessional' (the MO of my school) even though I thought it was one of the most professional things I've done. Now, do I contact the dean to follow-through and clear it up, or just let it go?

I feel betrayed because the dean should be on our side, not angry because I'm exposing a problem that needs to be fixed...

thanks

It is pretty common practice/etiquette to allow somebody to know about and have a chance to fix a problem before broadcasting it to others. You should have contacted the dean first. It may not have even been a problem caused by the school (insurance company snafus are far more common) and yet you chose to make him/her look bad before he had a chance to look into it. Make sure you are now covered and not out any money and then let it go with your apology being the last communication.
Word to the wise the "CC" function is a weapon and in the wrong hands can get you in trouble.

 

[curlycorday]

Thanks, Law2doc...
I had contacted her previously about it, and she assured us it was fixed the first week of class... Thats why its so odd that she got upset about it.

I think my cc judgement was clouded by the vicodin for my leg.......

 

[Droopy Snoopy]

I've heard of requiring students to have insurance, but forcing everyone to use the same company sounds wrong. Can't you get a private policy and submit a waiver or something? Anyway, I'd have to agree with Law2Doc about contacting the dean first. But you say you'd already done this, so I have to agree with you. You had every right to send a courteous, informative email to the class. I think part of becoming a doc is taking the initiative in identifying and fixing a problem, not depending on others to do it for you. You're going to be the one running the show one day after all. Sorry to hear your dean is so shortsighted, but sitting down to discuss the situation openly with her should help restore some of your "professionalism" in her eyes. If not, say f*ck it and move on.

 

[AmericanIMG]

not the smartest idea to go over the bosses head, even if you are meaning well...but the dean should have gotten the insurance figured out before you all had to buy it. in the end its the schools own fault, and you shouldn't be blamed for it. its the school's own ineptitude that caused the issue.

 

[Law2Doc]

its the school's own ineptitude that caused the issue.

Maybe -- but it could also be the insurance company's ineptitude.

 

[Bertelman]

I agree that your situation stinks, but I can echo similar situations in my institution. As for your interaction with the dean, I think it is great to get the word out, but official school email isn't always the best way. In addition, you sent a copy to the insurance company, now in effect representing yourself as a voice of the school.

 

[akpete]

I've heard of requiring students to have insurance, but forcing everyone to use the same company sounds wrong. Can't you get a private policy and submit a waiver or something?

My school also requires you to have their insurance. The ONLY exception is if you are still on your parents' health insurance. So I had to cancel my previous policy and get the school's group coverage. It's better insurance than what I had before, but it also costs $1500 more per year.


As for the issue at hand, if the dean did know about it, assured the class that it had been fixed, and it has been weeks, well, then she had her chance. She made herself look bad.

 

[FenderHM]

that sounds like BS they should be on your side sounds like a lame bitter figurehead was pissed cause he had to do some extra work to make sure that med students were getting the insurance that THEY PAID FOR...

good luck you've got my empathy

 

[crazy_cavalier]

That sucks man, sorry to hear that. Is your school insurance Chickering, by any chance? They are pretty horrible.

I think your Dean was just overreacting, probably defensive of any critique of the administration or the policies (i.e. health insurance provider) they hold.

 

[stoic]

man, that sucks. it's total BS that the dean yelled at you. keep in mind he's only pissed b/c it makes him look and the school look like asses. but you know what? in the long run they ought to be thanking out; you sound like you had a minor accident. what happens if someone gets really sick or needs major surgery? the bill would be a lot more than that of an ER visit.... and people would be much angrier.

i hate all this political bull****. yea you should try not to make the school look bad (they do a good enough job themselves)... but you did a good thing and i'm sure other students are supporting you 100%.

if i were you, i'd probably pop a couple vicodin and write that dean back to tell him you're sorry for any trouble you've caused, but of all people he should know how big of a problem this is and that the students have every right to know what's up... after all, it is THEIR health insurance. really, that's what i'd do. it might not be the smartest, most politically wise thing to do, but sometimes you just gotta go with what's right.

anyway, try not to worry about it too much. i think you did the right thing (maybe not the "smartest" thing) and would have done the same in your shoes. i think it's good to know that there are still some docs in training with the balls to buck the system to do the right thing.

good luck. and if you can, keep us up to date on this one. sounds interesting.

take care,
dave

 

[Law2Doc]

As for the issue at hand, if the dean did know about it, assured the class that it had been fixed, and it has been weeks, well, then she had her chance. She made herself look bad.

Again, it's not clear that the school did not do this; it's entirely possible the insurance company told the school the problem was fixed and still managed to drop the ball. I've seen that occur.

 

[Miami_med]

Again, it's not clear that the school did not do this; it's entirely possible the insurance company told the school the problem was fixed and still managed to drop the ball. I've seen that occur.

Law2Doc, you have a legal background. Wouldn't it be possible that if the school MANDATED that everyone buy a specific insurance, that they could be held responsible, in the hands of the right attorney, for the mistakes of the company with the students who were forced to purchase the insurance?

I do find it hard to believe that the school has no opt-out policy where you can purchase your own insurance. My school offers insurance, but I opt out and purchase a private policy.

As to the OP, just clear it up with the Dean. You're right, but he's bigger. You really don't want to be right all the way to some crappy residency because you got a horrible Dean's letter. Politics suck.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Hi all,

I was hoping for some advice on this situation... Student health insurance through a specific company is mandatory for my school, and it royally sucks. We've been enrolled for 6 weeks now and just got our cards. Last week, I was injured and had to go to the ER, where I handed registration my insurance card, which then came back that it had an 'invalid group number'... so then I spent 3 hours on the phone with every number listed on the card, all of which couldn't find me in their system and it was a huge hassle. I was told that our policy was expired and that each person needed to contact the company and update info-- basically a huge cluster.

So, I sent a very well-written, email (proofread by my MBA roommate) to my class regarding this, and I carbon-copied it to the student affairs lady in the med school, and the processor for our insurance alluding to what this person said regarding the insurance to get everyone on the same page.

Then, the dean of my med school calls and screams at me, calling me unprofessional for telling everyone in my class that there was a problem with their insurance-- wtf? I apologized for being 'unprofessional' (the MO of my school) even though I thought it was one of the most professional things I've done. Now, do I contact the dean to follow-through and clear it up, or just let it go?

I feel betrayed because the dean should be on our side, not angry because I'm exposing a problem that needs to be fixed...

thanks

Another misuse of the term "professional" in the medical school world. I agree that it would have been best to contact the Dean first before alerting students, but I got the impression from you later posts that the Dean was aware there was a problem. If that's the case and if the Dean weren't acting fast enough, I think it's fair to alert other students. It's more unprofessional to be silent about gross imcompetence from your school administration, imo -- incompetence that could have huge negative consequences for other students. Anyway, the Dean's p&ssed because you made him look incompetent, which might very well be true. However, from a covering your own a&& perspective, you probably want to apologize and play nicey nicey because having the Dean hate you could be disastrous for you.

 

[AmericanIMG]

Maybe -- but it could also be the insurance company's ineptitude.

yes, but it is always the school's responsibility to inform the students about what is going on.

 

[45408]

My school also requires you to have their insurance. The ONLY exception is if you are still on your parents' health insurance. So I had to cancel my previous policy and get the school's group coverage. It's better insurance than what I had before, but it also costs $1500 more per year.


As for the issue at hand, if the dean did know about it, assured the class that it had been fixed, and it has been weeks, well, then she had her chance. She made herself look bad.

You can also be on a spouse's insurance here. 😉

 

[Orthonut]

A wise man once told me "between you, me, and God, you did the right thing. Unfortunately, God doesn't sit on the state board"

Applied to this situation-you did the right thing, but you kind of made the dean look silly....I dunno. You're in, so long as you get good grades, it's not like the dean can kick you out (can they? I mean, for something like this?) I'd just keep a low profile from now on, and rest assured that the rest of your classmates probably appreciate the heads up. I know I would.

 

[jbrice1639]

My school also requires you to have their insurance. The ONLY exception is if you are still on your parents' health insurance. So I had to cancel my previous policy and get the school's group coverage. It's better insurance than what I had before, but it also costs $1500 more per year.

wow, that sucks. i haven't been on my parents' insurance for years...plus, our school pointed out that most parents' insurance will stop covering you at 25 whether you're a student or not, so you'd end up uninsured at some point in your education.

but, they let us have any private insurance we want as long as it's full coverage and not just some type of emergency insurance or catastrophic insurance.

 

[Law2Doc]

yes, but it is always the school's responsibility to inform the students about what is going on.

Um no, it is their responsibility to make sure they address the problem and make sure the insurance company covers you when issues are brought to their attention. Nowhere will you find a rule or policy that suggests the school has a responsibility to keep the student body informed with their dealing with an insurance company or other contractor. Hate to break it to you but there are probably a hundred school/student related vendor issues handled by a given med school each year and you are made privy to none of them, even though they affect you. And thank goodness -- who wants all that paperwork clogging up their email! So no, you don't have a right to know what is going on beyond aspects of your personal claims. You do have the right to be covered, and presumably the school will take steps to remedy this (perhaps again) now that this issue has surfaced.

 

[njbmd]

I do find it hard to believe that the school has no opt-out policy where you can purchase your own insurance. My school offers insurance, but I opt out and purchase a private policy.

As to the OP, just clear it up with the Dean. You're right, but he's bigger. You really don't want to be right all the way to some crappy residency because you got a horrible Dean's letter. Politics suck.

Some schools don't have an "opt out" policy for health insurance, likely, because of some deal that the school administration made with the insurance company. Can you imagine the advantage of insuring a whole medical school of likely healthy folks? The insurance company is cleaning up. Sure, you can purchase a private policy (I did because I did not like the restrictions of our school policy) at your expense but quite likely, the OP was stuck with what the school provided.

When it comes to health insurance, it was probably up to the Dean to make sure everything was correct and functioning properly for the students. After all, one can need health insurance at any hour of the day or night. This should have been taken care of swiftly or alternative coverage should have been arranged.

To the OP: I do not fault you for making sure that the class knew that there was a problem with their insurance coverage. Again, health insurance is something that is a priority when you need it and you can need it at any time. I guess I would have alerted the Class officers and let them handle the notification of the class. We had class reps who dealt with the Deans and notified the class of situations that affected them. They really kept us from having to deal with the administration which was fine in my book.

Again, the Dean may have been a tad touchy on this issue for whatever reason but a carefully worded apology might be in order. After all, I don't think that your intent was to undermine the Dean or his/her actions in handling this situation so far. Since there is something of a misunderstanding, and you don't want to be in the middle of this forever, drop a note of apology to the Dean and move on. Good luck with the insurance.

 

[Church]

If the OP had discovered that the school's insurance had a significant problem (i.e. don't expect to be covered at a hospital in an emergency), and knew that the school was aware of this, then the OP was entirely correct to alert the entire class about the flawed insurance. The school might not have been at fault, but they sound like they were playing a wait-and-see game on getting it fixed, without telling the people who would be most affected.

If this is the case, the Dean ought to be thrilled 😍 that their local newspaper editor's email wasn't on the cc list, not pissed at having been caught being lax on healthcare 😱

 

[Law2Doc]

The school might not have been at fault, but they sound like they were playing a wait-and-see game on getting it fixed, without telling the people who would be most affected.

There isn't really any evidence of this. More likely the school had talked to the insurers, the insurers had said everything was all set, and the school did nothing further, believing what they were told, that everything was all set. Hence they wouldn't have informed their students of anything because they didn't know of any continuing problem. Yet it apparently wasn't all set. So now, after the OP's claim unearthed a problem (which we have no reason to assume the school knew still existed, from the post) presumably, the school will follow through. I see nothing indicating a "wait and see game" here, nor any reason other students should be unnecessarilly worried by the school for what may likely have been an insurance company blunder that will be easilly fixed with a follow-up call from the Dean.

 

[AmericanIMG]

it seems from curly's posts that the school official made it clear that they knew the problem, and just did not inform the students. this is unethical. curly had to deal with the problem as a student, a problem that shouldn't have been there at all. as a PAYING student, i believe that curly has the right to know what is going on with her school and her insurance that she is paying for.

 

[curlycorday]

Hi all,

Thanks for your replies-- I have a meeting with the dean today in which I plan to apologize for any behavior that was 'unprofessional', but firmly state that my dealings with my insurance company is none of the school's business, and that the fact I cc'd the email to him should speak on my behalf as I wanted to make all parties equally involved and open lines of communication. I don't know what else to do, but I just want to clear up my repor with him...

Thanks again.