Class of 2022 Undergrad New Admit; Health Insurance?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Marquette University
1

Have any OOS parents, with children planning on going to Marquette, looked into or given any thought about health insurance?

My son was admitted, and is planning on attending this fall. He is excited and looking forward to it. Our initial impressions after visiting, and doing our homework, are very positive.

He also was accepted into several other schools–and his final few choices were U of Maryland CP, Loyola Maryland, and UMass Amherst. I didn’t think TOO much of it at the time, but those schools all offered student health insurance–in fact, out of all the schools he looked at, Marquette was the only one that didn’t.

We are from Massachusetts. As my son is insured under my wife’s plan at work, I was not overly concerned. After looking into I discovered that (a) he would only be covered in an emergency situation when out of state, and (b) it would be “out of network”

I know it varies by states, and the whole healthcare picture is kind of fuzzy (I know), but in MA, irrespective of what happens, we will still have the mandate. I looked at the MA State health connector website–and all policies are just in state as well.

So, without Marquette offering anything, we are forced to maintain his current policy. We will be paying the same price (which is ALREADY not cheap, even in-network), and my son will barely be covered for 9 months out of the year. I do know that Marquette offers basic services at their medical clinic–but I’m guessing there will be a huge gap in between what they cover, and what the insurance company may deem an emergency.

I can only imagine how it will be trying to get a, “out-of-state” claim through the insurance company should (God forbid) something happen! Luckily, my son has no pre-existing condition(s) which require regular, non-emergency, dr visits; if he did, or develops one, it might certainly change his ability to attend Marquette.

Is anyone in a similar situation? Anyone have any ideas?

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Have you looked into finding your son a primary care physician in Milwaukee? It is hard to talk about specifics as everyone 's insurance plan is different. Our daughter is covered on my husband’s plan we just recently switch to PPO vs HMO to ensure that both of our kids, who will be out of network, will receive the most coverage, with more ease of access and the least amount of headache should there be a claim. We made the change after a fiasco with a medical claim for treatment that she received off campus (a more complicated x-ray was needed than Marquette could provide). Call your insurance company and clarify their coverage recommendations for your college student.

Be sure to advise your student to be VERY conscious of where they are seeking treatment around campus, some places are advertised as Urgent Care when in fact they will bill a visit as an office visit and that will open a whole can of worms. Definitely scope it out prior to needing treatment, so your student knows exactly where to go. I think there are some unscrupulous providers capitalizeing on student’s relative naivete when accessing medical care. But, yes, in general you are going to be paying out of network rates. Our insurance company did allow us the option to choose a primary care physician in Milwaukee for our DD if we wanted to stay with an HMO option. But after thoroughly reviewing our option it was better for us to pay the PPO higher upfront co-pays vs the out of HMO network rates.

Marquette does have an on campus medical clinic that is very capable of providing care for most of your students “urgent” medical needs routine illness, simple injuries etc. The cost is covered in your tuition. After hours you will of course need to find other options.

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@labegg Thanks for the reply. I haven’t looked into seeing about a PCP in the Milwaukee area. The only insurance option we have, is HMO, and it is a New England only HMO. I AM going to call the insurance to see if there is anything they can do for us–but I doubt it.

I did read up on the services offered at the Marquette clinic, but as you mentioned; it is pretty basic. Certainly leaves room for some possible large uncovered medical expenses and/or very convoluted dealing with our insurance company for sure.

I’m gonna whine to our current insurance. At the very least maybe I can clarify what we can do to minimize OOP expenses if he happens to need care (outside of Marquette Clinic) while out there.