I wonder if Cornell got audited on this (and dinged with a penalty) for not enforcing the waiver policy. There’s a lot we don’t know behind this. Perhaps there were cases of Cornell students with expensive hospitalizations that left parents with huge hospital bills prompting the audit and waiver enforcement this year.
@CALSmom I think it is more a matter of the fact you need a large pool to make an insurance plan affordable (meaning profitable for the insurance company and providers like Cayuga).
Personally I don’t really care what their goal is. This is a personal decision and they have no business even setting such stringent rules. They are not required by law to have such stringent rules, other colleges in NYS do not have such specific rules, they are not all breaking the law. This is strictly a matter of them being too paternalistic. My son is a now a grad student living off campus. Not a child, he can make his own decisions, yet they treat him like a child.
This is also reflective of the fact they are in an isolated area with few medical provider choices. Similar to transportation difficulties, Ithaca is beautiful but isolated and costly. But it’s up to you to take a cheap bus or fly home from a private plane at the Ithaca airport, why must they decide this for you ?
Note I no longer have skin in the game, we got our waiver and this is likely my son’s last year there. In general had no issue with other aspects of Cornell, but this policy has to be changed, relaxed somewhat. These rules started with good intentions and morphed into overreach.
“I raise this now, since last 3 years Cornell did not enforce their rules, they are trying to do so now. Be prepared for an extra $2800 unnecessary expense, if your child already has good coverage. Now if you do not have a good policy, this plan is pretty good, but way more expensive than other college plans, and you have no choice. They try to justify it as a platinum plan, but again, my other child’s college offers identical coverage at < 1/2 the price in the same geographical area.”
@blevine I’m not siding with the school, just wondering what prompted the enforcement of their already placed rule of minimum coverage %
Perhaps in the ACA requirement, there’s a specific percentage coverage that needs to be met. Idk, we could speculate all day but you raise the question as to why Cornell is now only enforcing what was already in place. I was just raising some possible answers to your question.
I agree that $2,800 is expensive and is a price that should be considered for COA. However, I don’t think Cornell is trying to screw its students over. Being in Ithaca where the cost of living tends to run high in terms of rent and medical care apparently, could be the factor driving the cost compared to your younger child’s college plan. Thankfully my employer’s plan in California actually meets all the Cornell requirements thus far (my S is third year) but I’m going to keep on top of any potential plan changes.
I do think that Cornell could have done a better job communicating their health insurance policy to their students (and parents). I think they learned a lesson because so many families were affected and complained to administration. Hopefully it’s not an issue going forward.
@CALSmom I think the policy and it’s purpose are very clear, from our first year at Cornell. I simply don’t agree with the policy. The reason most residential colleges have such a policy is due to international students having no US coverage, and for domestic students who may have insufficient coverage. But insufficient is a financial decision, and I documented specific illustrations and examples of how my existing policy gives BETTER coverage for my student. They don’t care, they care about their poorly conceived rigid policy. Most schools are less rigid in the details and requirements of their policy. I got a waiver because the decided to relax the policy generally and temporarily, not because it’s a bad policy.
Anyone who has multiple children has to look at the overall situation. Because 4 of us are on a plan together our deductible is met easily each year, helping lower med costs for my cornell student and the whole family. My plan also has a max out of pocket at the family level. If my child was admitted to Cayuga and handed a $50 or $100k bill, my insurance would pay 60% up to that max, then 100%. In total could be 90-95% of the bill. After that all medical care for the entire family is covered 100% for rest of the year. And if my son got a $500 bill from Cayuga, and insurance only pays half, so what ? Costs me $250. Vs $2500 for an extra redundant policy I dont need. Finally my son’s local internist is out of network in Cornell’s “platinum” plan, costing us still more on top if this plan. This doc takes pretty much every major insurer except not on Cornell’s plan (same state NY). I just think that many if these issues are not unique to my son, and the policy needs to consider them, or relaxed to be more in line with the norm. Note my other child’s policy at half the price does cover all his local docs at home. Cornell negotiated an expensive policy that is not useful outside Ithaca, and has the most onerous rules of any college to force you to buy it, even of you already have an excellent policy that better meets your needs. Never had issues with our other college, same personal policy, also in upstate NY, 2 hrs drive from Ithaca. Big Red Machine they are…
@blevine I don’t understand your rant about Cornell. In your post #11
“Their main issue is Cayuga being out-of-network and that out-of-net coverage must be 70%. But per the website above
“We recognize that in some of these cases, the denial comes as a surprise. In response,we are approving waivers for individuals with at least 50% coverage at Cayuga Medical Center.”
I had 60% so they accepted this upon appeal.”
So it turned out ok for you and your family, that’s good. And it looks like my speculation about Cornell being audited on enforcing the health insurance waiver process was correct. Either way, Cornell extended grace to you and plenty of other families. Good thing for you that your son is in his last year so you don’t need to deal with the waiver requirements anymore.
For any future Cornell wannabes take note:
“The university’s health insurance requirements are subject to change each academic year.
Cornell’s Student Health Benefits Advisory Committee (SHBAC) determines the criteria on the basis of their ongoing, careful review of the health care needs and experiences of Cornell students; the ways various health insurance plans work and don’t work on Cornell’s Ithaca campus, in the Ithaca area, in New York City, and elsewhere in the United States and abroad; and local and national health insurance trends and options.” https://studenthealthbenefits.cornell.edu/requirements
So if enough families don’t agree with the waiver requirement, write to the SHBAC! And you’re welcome, you’ve been forewarned 
Audited by who ? It is their own policy.
There is no law requiring such a policy.
I had to make many phone calls and write many emails, and while I got the waiver, I am hoping others will do what you suggest, contact Cornell proactively for next year. They were clear they intend to keep this terrible policy and enforce it more vigorously next year. I only “rant” here to try and help other families prepare either to give in or make a case well ahead of time. Cornell’s agent turned down my waiver request weeks before one would have to act regarding other children and your existing policy. They offered an appeals process, then never responded. I escalated and got my problem resolved but as I said, my problem was not unique. Trying to educate others so they can help themselves is a rant since the problem didn’t affect you. If you had to have so many weeks of back and forth with them as I did, you would know the real problem. I think I did help others since they posted a policy change after I persisted, but it was only temporary.
Regarding the audit, I never said it was a state requirement but I speculated that the issue arose this year probably due to an audit. Audits aren’t only done externally and in Cornell’s case it was an internal audit. It was mentioned in the link you posted on #11
“This year, Cornell introduced a new audit process in hopes of better guiding student choices about health insurance. We discovered that some students were granted waivers in the past when their health insurance plan did not meet Cornell’s requirement of 70% coverage at Ithaca’s only hospital, Cayuga Medical Center (CMC). As a result, these students are receiving preliminary denials this year.”
Sounds like someone wasn’t doing their job for many years! Now it seems like Cornell is holding people accountable for their jobs which is a good thing.
Regarding why Cornell has the 70% coverage for Cayuga Medical Center:
“Why does Cornell even have this requirement in the first place?
Cornell’s main campus location, in Ithaca, New York, brings some unique and often unfamiliar challenges for students who have limited health care coverage in the local area. Ithaca has only one hospital, emergency room, and diagnostic center that is accessible through public transportation: Cayuga Medical Center. The nearest hospitals that participate with other insurances, are a 40-minute drive from Cornell (Cortland Regional Medical Center and Schuyler Hospital).
Students with limited coverage at CMC often experience high out-of-pocket costs or delays in seeking care; consequently sometimes they forego seeking care altogether. Any of these scenarios can result in negative and sometimes serious personal and academic outcomes. These facts have informed the university’s insurance requirements, which are vetted through Risk Management and Insurance, Cornell Health, university administrators, and the Student Health Benefits Advisory Committee (which includes students, faculty, and staff).”
It’s to protect the families. In the event a medical catastrophe happens, it doesn’t financially devastate the family. I could think of some likely catastrophic scenarios that could happen to college students: meningitis with limb amputation, appendicitis, serious sports injury, car accident, concussion from a slip on icy Libe slope, etc.
Well, between you and me @blevine we’ve provided a nice PSA for the school!
@CALSmom They audited AJ Gallagher a firm that handles the waiver process for them. But they hired AJG and set the rules, and decided to audit their vendor. Either they didn’t monitor their vendor for years or they purposely looked the other way, not sure. But does not really matter, the fact is the policy is ridiculous.
I simply don’t agree that "It’s to protect the families. In the event a medical catastrophe happens, it doesn’t financially devastate the family. " I don’t need protection from my own financial decisions. It is up to the student and their family to decide what they can afford for campus housing, car or public transportation and medical care. These all impact the student. Living far from campus and taking the bus most certainly would not help with academic success, but this is a matter of what the family can afford and prioritize, and a personal decision. Well so is medical care. Each family has a unique situation. For years they ignored their rules. Now that they are enforcing that AJGallagher enforce the rules (making them do their job), they need to refine the rules so there is a legit way to petition and be considered for waivers based on your own personal situation. AJG told me to write a letter to petition, then ignored it and would not return emails or phone calls for weeks, so I called and emailed Cornell. Maybe coincidentally, Cornell not only granted me the waiver but posted the above info which was not online when I started by appeal process. So their audit only revealed the their vendor is still not doing their job. First they rejected nobody. Now the refuse to conduct appeals that they agree to perform. Vendor and policy change is needed.
I would say parents should assume an extra $10k in costs for the 4 years in Cornell vs other colleges due to this policy if they actually enforce as they assert going forward. That along with the excessive cost of apartments off campus just adds to the staggering COA. My younger student lives same distance off campus, in a similar size apartment, similar age/condition but at half the cost, 2 hours drive away. Future students/parents, you will pay much more than the advertised COA and much more than other rural colleges. You are paying NYC/Boston/DC prices for rural amenities. You wont get the best doctors in Ithaca, just the most expensive medical insurance !
@blevine That’s unfortunate you had to go through so much hassle to find out Cornell’s vendor wasn’t doing their job. It certainly wasn’t the fault of the families affected and Cornell was right to grant all the waivers. Maybe if enough families petition the health committee to lower the standard for a waiver, it can be done.
Ithaca, being in a rural area, does incur some extra expense. Other than possibly having to buy the Cornell SHP, families need to budget for a student bus pass for soph to senior year if you have no car, bus tickets to and from Syracuse airport (since Thompkins airport is expensive and does not have a lot of flight choices). As for housing, my son lived in dorms for first two years (more expensive) and now lives in a house walking distance to campus. With utilities it’s $650/month for his single and his meal plan is $717/semester. He buys his own groceries to fill in the gap. Off campus housing doesn’t necessarily mean an expensive apartment, there are plenty of decent Collegetown houses the kids can room together to keep costs down. Fortunately, my son is part of a team so he has a built in group of students he can room with.
Funny end to my particular story. I have had employer provided United Healthcare for over a decade, and this is one of the insurance firms NOT accepted at Cayuga Hospital. Well my employer just decided to switch to Aetna, same as the Cornell plan. This means :
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My plan would now be granted a waiver, covers the hospital in-network !
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Had I not gotten the waiver, I would now be paying for 2 Aenta policies instead of 1.
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I had objections to Aetna coverage in my own home area (downstate NY), which we now have to suffer.
Some of our favorite doctors that kids and us parents use, are now out of network. Sucks. But at least I am not paying twice to have doctors taken off our plan ! -
My employer gives us some coverage options that I would not have at Cornell one-size-fits-all plan,
so while I have same Aetna network, different premiums at different coverage level. I will pay lower premiums
to get an HSA, then use the HSA for those out of network docs. More flexible to compensate for their poor local network (in my area).
Cornell really has to lay off and let people figure out what is best for them, this is a very complicated personal decision. Worked out for me, so enough said.