<p>Hi All...</p>
<p>My son will be an incoming freshman this fall at FSU. I'm self employed and we have to purchase our own health insurance. Being I only have one child left home, I was told a while back that I'd be better off getting my wife and I insurance and getting my son his own plan as it would be less expensive than family coverage being we only had the one child on the plan. That's worked well.</p>
<p>The plan he is currently on he can't keep past the age 18 (ages out on his 19th birthday) so I will have to look for new insurance for him either way. I was reading online about the plan FSU has available to students. Their Florida Blue plan through Blue Cross. For $1540 annually it looks like a pretty decent plan. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with the plan either positive or negative?</p>
<p>While I'm on the topic... how's the student health center for general wellness items? Colds, sore throats, and other minor items? Should we encourage him to go there or should we just find him a primary care doctor in the Tallahassee area to use while he's attending FSU?</p>
<p>Any input would be much appreciated...</p>
<p>Thanks in advance</p>
<p>By the overwhelming response, I assume no one uses the FSU health insurance or the Student Health Center? LOL</p>
<p>The FSU health insurance plan is pretty comprehensive and is priced about as good as you can get anywhere else. I doubt a girl can get a health insurance plan elsewhere that includes maternity coverage (required by FSU) for $1540/yr. I don’t think you have to pay all at once, you can pay in installment payments too. If an FSU student gets pregnant, the parents can smile knowing they have insurance coverage!</p>
<p>I’ve been to the health clinic a couple of times for minor things and they helped me. They want to get paid though right away and if you, or your insurance don’t pay, FSU will put a hold on your FSU financial acct and not allow you to register for classes.</p>
<p><a href=“http://studentinsurance.fsu.edu/[/url]”>http://studentinsurance.fsu.edu/</a></p>
<p>My son was treated at the Thagard Student Health Center twice last semester for minor medical needs such as those you listed. He was able to get an appointment quickly and was pleased with the services provided.</p>
<p>Also, the brand new Wellness Center should be open by the beginning of the Fall semester.</p>
<p>Thanks the two of you… It’s nice knowing that others have had good experiences with both. Your right, the plan seems pretty comprehensive for the money and from what I’m told co-payments are fully covered if he’s seen at the campus health center with the plan, so it should all work out good.</p>
<p>Thanks agian…</p>
<p>My son has just completed his first year and has the FSU insurance. Visits to Thagard are free of co-pay and he has been referred out to a specialist and that was very reasonable.
The only negative has been visits to his primary care when at home. There is a co-pay and co-insurance (new to me) so the visit ends up costing about $40-45 instead of $20.
Overall very pleased with the coverage and the cost.</p>
<p>I may be wrong about this, but I am pretty sure that the FSU Health Insurance plan is just the BCBS of Florida Blue Options 700 plan (or whatever it’s called now). I am currently on that plan, and it’s absolutely identical to the FSU one coverage wise.
Plus, I only pay half of what the FSU plan costs ($70/month), and I have coverage year-round, even if I skip the summer semester (not that I ever have or will). </p>
<p>I would look into whether you are able to get your students on that plan at a rate similar to what I have prior to forking out over double the cash to get it from FSU. I’ve had no complaints with the plan- it even paid for something I didn’t expect it to pay for.
I know they altered the plan shortly after I got it last year so I am not 100% sure whether it’s still possible to get it or not, unfortunately, or if you can get it as a student by yourself anymore. I don’t remember what actually changed, although the biggest change I remember was the price changing from $60 to $70 a month.</p>
<p>The BlueOptions 700 for $71/mo. is a rate for young males. FSU requires maternity coverage; adding maternity rider bumps premium up about $100 or $200/ mo. extra on top of the $71/mo. for the 700 plan for girls depending on deductible or copay chosen. The FSU “unisex” flatrate plan seems to be a better deal for girls than boys.</p>
<p>[Florida</a> Insurance Plans for Individuals and Families | BCBSF](<a href=“http://consumerdirect.bcbsfl.com/cws/browseplans/individualsandfamilies]Florida”>http://consumerdirect.bcbsfl.com/cws/browseplans/individualsandfamilies)</p>
<p>Too, the FSU “group” health insurance plan could be better for a student with pre-existing health problems which might be covered under the FSU plan but not under a new “individual” plan like the BlueOptions which probably requires meeting their underwriting guidelines before issuing a policy or excluding coverage for the particular health problems.</p>
<p>Oh, it’s certainly not for everyone, that’s for sure. It’s just an option that anyone with a son might want to look into before signing up for the FSU plan that is twice the cost for the same coverage. Since the OP was asking about the FSU plan for his son, I just wanted to alert him to a potentially cheaper plan. :)</p>
<p>… all good info, THANKS!</p>
<p>My son has no pre-existing conditions so that wouldn’t be an issue. However, being OOS I don’t know if he could even get the blue options plan not being a Florida resident? Maybe I’ll have to look into that for next year. Sounds like the safe bet this year is to put him on the FSU insurance. </p>
<p>As for the rate, I can’t even imagine a plan for $70/mo. EVERYTHING is more expensive up here in the North East and the FSU plan is about 1/3 of what I’m paying for his current coverage. Since people seem pretty happy with the plan, it’s a bargain relative to his current coverage!</p>