<p>Hi I was wondering what the differences are between the two options and the pros and cons of the two. I currently have insurance (covered under my parents), so which option would be best for me? With the two options, how are office visits like? Is there a Copay? </p>
<p>Thank you very much for your answers! :)</p>
<p>Also interested in knowing the answer to this. My family lives in the East Bay, and we’re curious how the health insurance aspect works and whatnot.</p>
<p>Here’s a link to campus Health Services insurance page which may answer some of your questions.
[UC</a> Santa Cruz Student Health Center](<a href=“http://www2.ucsc.edu/healthcenter/billing/insurance.shtml#CruzCare]UC”>http://www2.ucsc.edu/healthcenter/billing/insurance.shtml#CruzCare)
Our student was approved pst 2 yrs to waive the UC insurance because he is covered thru parent’s insurance/Sutter Health. There are Sutter providers & facilities in Santa Cruz. Waiving the UC insurance saved approx. $1200/yr.</p>
<p>Thanks for the link slugmom. Sadly, my family is under the Kaiser plan, and I just read up on the info saying the nearest Kaiser facility is at least an hours drive away. They say the UC plan is something like 115$ a month. What they dont clarify though is whether that’s already a part of the tuition cost, or whether its an additional cost to the 30 grand we pay for the year as is.</p>
<p>The USHIP insurance fee is already included in the estimated fees (look at the break down). That “30 grand” cost is the cost of attendance which includes everything including personal expenses, travel, books and supplies, and insurance (which, as mentioned, is in the fee breakdown for the campus).</p>
<p>If you have Kaiser: get campus insurance. The nearest Kaiser is over the hill in San Jose. If you are ill or injured enough to need to go get taken care of, it is an almost impossible drive. Campus insurance is cheap. You can also go to any facility that takes Blue Cross if you are more than 25 miles from campus. I recommend using the campus health center, though.</p>
<p>Check to see if there are any providers for your insurance in Santa Cruz itself. If not: get campus insurance.</p>
<p>Thanks loads Kender, that’s good info. Curious about the USHIP and the graduate version of the insurance. The graduate one says it covers dental and eyes. Does the standard one (that students are automatically enrolled in) also cover that? I wear glasses myself, and dental is always nice to have. Just the graduate insurance was a lot more expensive.</p>
<p>Appreciate the help</p>
<p>No, it does not. GSHIP is more expensive because it covers more (and is only for graduates, of course). Remember these are students who are most likely off their parents’ insurance completely and probably have no other means to receive care. Far more undergraduates are more likely to still have vision and dental, but medical is something that can be tricky based on providers. These are not visits that happen too often (you should be getting an eye check up once a year to once every two years and an every six months dentist visit for a cleaning). Thus making them (in general, but not always) possible to do while home.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www2.ucsc.edu/healthcenter/forms/USHIP-medical-brochure.pdf[/url]”>http://www2.ucsc.edu/healthcenter/forms/USHIP-medical-brochure.pdf</a></p>
<p>That will tell you what is covered.</p>
<p>From personal experience, however, I can tell you that normal visits to the UCSC health center are free (no co-pay) if you have USHIP. Name brand medications are $30. Some shots that are not required and are voluntary can cost extra (one I get costs $75 a pop, but it’s worth it). The health center has also recently been remodeled and looks quite nice in my opinion. The staff is quite nice and helpful.</p>
<p>Thanks again Kender. I spoke to my parents and it sounds like a consensus was made that getting the USHIP insurance is best, as my dad said we have a separate dental plan, and eyewear etc I do rarely (change my glasses once a year or so).</p>
<p>Cheers</p>
<p>@PhantomBMAN</p>
<p>I have Kaiser, and I waived the insurance the school provided. You might need to check with your specific plan, but at least for my Kaiser plan, they cover emergency help at other hospitals (and on campus if you go to the Health Center) as long as you can provide a receipt. So if you do need to go to the hospital for whatever reason, you can just go to the nearest one in Santa Cruz and still be covered.
This might not apply for your plan, but for mine it did, so I declined the campus insurance and ended up saving a lot of money. Just some input on that…</p>
<p>Cheers rectangleshorts. My folks have pretty much agreed that we’ll just accept the school insurance and not deal with Kaiser. They seem to be fine with the cost (though I see why someone would waive it, it is fairly expensive).</p>
<p>Thanks for your input though.</p>
<p>Hi! I don’t know if you can assist me or not, but I had a question about waiving the insurance for UCSC. I’ve waived it once before and I’m trying to do it again, but my parents are unavailable to give me the information and I don’t think I will have time to go home before the deadline to waive is up. I’d hate to be a bother, but is it possible for any of you to tell me what to input?</p>
<p>@FunnyMonkey: The deadline to submit the online insurance waiver for fall 2010 is Sept. 1. You have no possible method of contacting your parents at all for the next month? email, mail, fax, phone, etc? Or are they just out of the country and have left the membership card at home or something? Not trying to be nosey or anything. Unfortunately, I don’t know what you should input. For what it’s worth, here’s a link to some info, though:</p>
<p>[UC</a> Santa Cruz Student Health Center](<a href=“http://www2.ucsc.edu/healthcenter/billing/insurance.shtml]UC”>http://www2.ucsc.edu/healthcenter/billing/insurance.shtml)</p>