Recommendations for Student insurance

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jonesb10

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I need to get student health insurance but don't know who to go through. Anyone have great things to say about current/past providers? What does a good plan usually cost a month?

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I need to get student health insurance but don't know who to go through. Anyone have great things to say about current/past providers? What does a good plan usually cost a month?

Have you ever purchased your own insurance? There are many things to choose from; PPO vs. HMO, high vs. low deductions, copay amounts, etc. As far as getting insurance for d-school on the budget we have to live on I would go with a PPO w/ a deductible in the $1500 range w/ a $25 or so copay.
 
have you checked with your school to see if they already provide you with said insurance? Could save a lot of time, effort on your part.
 
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If you're healthy and don't need rx coverage, a major medical policy might work.
I think I paid $50-60 a month for a policy w/ a $2500 deductible.

http://www.ehealthinsurance.com/
 
If you're healthy and don't need rx coverage, a major medical policy might work.
I think I paid $50-60 a month for a policy w/ a $2500 deductible.

http://www.ehealthinsurance.com/

I agree, this is probably the way forward unless your school offers really good deals. I think my school is about $2500 per year. Seeing as I've been fortunate enough to have only had to go to the doctor for "being sick" once in the past 10 years, I'll take the $800 policy from one of these big insurance plans.
 
This was on the Clark Howard show today...

"Business Week reports that school officials now are getting kickbacks from health insurance companies for steering students toward certain policies. The U.S. Government Accountability Office says these policies have no meaningful coverage in the event of a serious accident or devastating illness. For example, 95% of medical bills may not be covered in an accident. The policies are not worth the paper they're written on.

Schools in Alaska, Kansas, Florida and New Jersey are among those named in the Business Week story. Meanwhile, the Attorney General of New York is conducting its own investigation.

About 30% of the time these ineffectual policies are required by schools and there's nothing you can do about it. But nearly 7 out of 10 times, the university may be on the take. So don't rely on them to recommend a policy for your son or daughter. Do your own research."
 
Really depends on the school you're applying/been accepted to. I'm one of the unlucky people who needs pretty intensive health insurance and a fair number of school don't offer very good insurance...

One thing you could ask is if you're getting put onto a separate student insurance or an employee plan. Because here at Pitt we're on the employee health insurance and it works out to be great because everything is covered and the deductible/copays are low. Granted it costs $2500, but for someone like me it's definately worth it.

If you're someone who doesn't need it, there are cheaper alternatives out there. So taking out your own personal insurance might be a decent way to go.

I second the call for a PPO though, they make your life much easier and save you tons of headaches.
 
This was on the Clark Howard show today...

"Business Week reports that school officials now are getting kickbacks from health insurance companies for steering students toward certain policies. The U.S. Government Accountability Office says these policies have no meaningful coverage in the event of a serious accident or devastating illness. For example, 95% of medical bills may not be covered in an accident. The policies are not worth the paper they're written on.

Schools in Alaska, Kansas, Florida and New Jersey are among those named in the Business Week story. Meanwhile, the Attorney General of New York is conducting its own investigation.

About 30% of the time these ineffectual policies are required by schools and there's nothing you can do about it. But nearly 7 out of 10 times, the university may be on the take. So don't rely on them to recommend a policy for your son or daughter. Do your own research."

It's funny that you mention that. I suspect my school (San Antonio) of doing the same thing.

Our insurance that they force you to buy if you show up without proof of anything else only costs $1,119, but it is completely worthless. I could have taken 1,119 one dollar bills and wiped my arse with them and had the same quality of coverage. They denied every claim that I made throughout the year.

I've already bought a new policy on my own that is more expensive but will actually provide coverage if I need it so that I won't be forced to buy that school policy again.

I don't know how it is in other states, but Blue Cross Blue Shield seems to be a decent choice to buy a PPO policy in Texas.
 
For $90 a month, do you really think you will get any kind of coverage? $1119 doesn't even cover you sitting in the ER for a couple stiches.
 
For $90 a month, do you really think you will get any kind of coverage? $1119 doesn't even cover you sitting in the ER for a couple stiches.
$1119 is for the year which comes out to be about the same as paying $90 a month. Just making sure that is clear for everyone. Man I hate our system:thumbdown:.
 
For $90 a month, do you really think you will get any kind of coverage? $1119 doesn't even cover you sitting in the ER for a couple stiches.

I agree that you can't expect much when you aren't paying that much, but why even charge the student for a policy that is completely worthless. If they are going to charge you for an insurance policy, then make it cost 2K if you need to but one that is actually going to be like having health insurance.

The worst part is that it is a non-refundable policy that forces you to pay in full at the beginning of the policy and it is taken out before you get your refund check.

I had a friend that had a decent BCBS policy that was a million times better than mine that only cost $125 per month.
 
I would sugest looking at unicare. I have coverage for my self and my 2 sons for $228/month. If it was just me then it would be about $95/month.
 
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