<p>Ok guys, I am totally mad at this PSIP. Why do they try to suck money out of our pockets by forcing us into buying this incredibly expensive plan? The premium is $315 something per month and we are required to buy the policy a full 12-month year! Now why do we need it for the summer? And why they have to make it so expensive? They should give us an option to choose a high deductible and lower our premium. And the worst is that they didn't even include the insurance cost in our budget. </p>
<p>I have tried with 2 different insurance provider and they both failed to meet the requirements by Penn. Literally Penn joined with Aetna to come up with requirements that basically noone else can meet. Know what, if you buy another plan from Aetna then they themselves won't meet the requirements as well. This is ridiculous.</p>
<p>So what I have in mind is. We gather a group of people who are certainly unhappy with this insurance thing and file a complaint to the school. Of course some of us might say that "it won't work, Penn wants to get as much from us as possible" but well, let's try.</p>
<p>I agree. The premiums are absurd and there are few options of opting out. I have two questions: </p>
<p>1) Can/do other schools include insurance premiums in their Cost of Attendance?
2) How much are those premiums?</p>
<p>This is what I could find:</p>
<p>Princeton: Students who are not covered by a family health insurance policy must purchase Student Health Plan coverage for $1,620.</p>
<p>Harvard: In addition, health insurance coverage is required at a cost of $1,834 unless the student is covered under the family’s health plan. (That’s on top of the Health Services Fee included in their COA $1,186). </p>
<p>Cornell: $1,898</p>
<p>Brown: Students will be charged the spring premium of $2,695. Participation in SHIP is mandatory. However, students may waive enrollment in SHIP if they are covered by a comparable health insurance plan.</p>
<p>Dartmouth: $1,948.00 (Waved if current insurance meets requirements).</p>
<p>Yale: Didn’t find</p>
<p>Columbia: Cost of attendance Fees** $2,609 (Includes health insurance cost)</p>
<p>Not sure if their program is different this year but my d was able to substitute our Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance.<br>
Just a warning too - do not agree to an MRI at the Penn Hospital - the face value on the bill was $13,000 - for an outpatient MRI to determine if there was a physical reason for recurring migraines. Insurance covered it but our deductible was maxed out. If the Penn program covers it in total then it’s probably not a bad deal!</p>
<p>If they don’t accept your (or your parents) insurance there is a form that you can have filled out by either the insurance company or the human resource officer for employer that provides the insurance. The form attests that the insurance will meet Penn’s requirements. They denied my insurance for my son without any contact with the insurance company. The insurance we have meets their requirements but because it is an HMO it was denied. Don’t stress because you have until 9/30 to get it straightened out.</p>
<p>I’ve tried a lot of insurance companies such as United Healthcare, Celtic, Blue Cross (Independence Blue Cross PA - But their plans do not cover mental health so it won’t qualify.) and none of them qualified. I also contacted an independent agent who specializes in selling insurance to students and has been selling alternate plans to Penn students as well and I will quote his line:</p>
<p>“I am sorry but the 2011-2012 waiver form seems to be designed with the specific intent of excluding all other insurance possibilities that have been used by Penn students in the past.”</p>
<p>But the real issue here is that I called Aetna (PSIP provider) to ask them about a plan that will satisfy the requirements but with a higher deductible so I can save on premium (I didn’t tell them that the requirements were actually made by them) and they told that it’s impossible for a student to obtain a plan with such coverage unless they are included in a employer’s insurance plan with a high level of benefits. Jeez!</p>
<p>@ShanghaiMom: it might be a good deal if I need MRI scan or if I suddenly need a surgery, of course. But the thing here is that I don’t need those services :(. Would you be able to let me know exactly which plan of Blue Cross that you bought?</p>
<p>@dnjsmom88: I really don’t know what to do now. I contacted 3 different insurance companies and 1 indenpendent agent already and, after reading the form, they all told that they are not able to provide me any plan that will pass the verification. :(</p>
<p>It depends on the plan you pick and the premimum you are willing to pay and the deduction amount, not the name of the insurance company. Usually the plan you pick should pay at leat 85% of the healthcare cost in order to be accepted by Penn. An individual plan usually has less benefits and cannot meet Penn requirement. Unlike group plans, most individual plans only provide basic coverage. If you have pre-existing condition, you will be denied by the individual plans. That’s the bad thing about health insurance.</p>