<p>So why would we have to pay for more insurance when our plan already covers my son thoroughly. We don't have an HMO, we don't need pre-approvals for coverage, we don't have a co-pay. Anything "out of district" is still covered. Why would we have to pay nearly $1,000 for insurance we don't need? BTW: my son has no medical issues either. He has an annual and that's the only time he normally sees his doctor.</p>
<p>Has anyone been able to convince them this is totally unnecessary, and a bogus way to charge us extra money?</p>
<p>No, you cannot convince them otherwise.
The reason they do this is so that it is cheaper than it would be if only students who didn’t have insurance wanted school insurance.</p>
<p>I’m not necessarily defending this (as it’s a pain in the rear for several reasons, especially since I do have weird medical issues and I’d rather use my parents insurance), but it is a legit reason.</p>
<p>I think they had problems with students becoming uninsured in the middle of the year (parent loosing the job that provided insurance, etc.), and so they put this policy in place that everyone has to buy their insurance. It makes some parents pretty unhappy. But in the grand scheme of things, it is not something to choose a different school for…</p>
<p>You can (and should) still keep your parents’ insurance (unless it costs extra) - it will be your secondary insurance, and will cover whatever WUSTL insurance does not.</p>
<p>I know it’s cheaper for them to have someone like my son on their policy: it will cost me $1,000 and I won’t be using their services AT ALL. They like that. Nothing out of pocket for them. They do not like to have sick people on their policy, but if they have many more healthy people and an occasional sick person, they make money. (Dah!! That’s how insurance companies make money.) The most costliest illnesses, like cancer, isn’t exactly common on most college campuses. It’s amazing that more schools don’t do this. I mean, it’s another money maker for the school. Did you realize, college age students are, statistically, the healthiest age group to cover (especially if they’re not driving).</p>
<p>What I also don’t like is that these costs are charged here and there for this and that, in dribs and drabs. It’s done so you don’t notice that COA is actually considerably more money than just tuition and R/B.</p>
<p>Wait I’ve never heard of this insurance before… is it part of student health fees? If it is, I thought it was only $600 or something… Where is this information listed?</p>
<p>Yeah it says $550 for students which is the student health coverage fee… why were people saying it costed more, or is that this fee plus any fees that are already being paid?</p>
<p>I don’t know the exact amount ^^^, but I read somewhere it was something like $875. I was rounding it up. The site listed on post #4 didn’t specify an amount.</p>
<p>I did learn, however, that Aetna will be handling this program, just like my other kids’s colleges. However, unlike their colleges, WashU does not allow opt-out. This will be my fifth college experience and the only one that does not have an opt-out.</p>
<p>My H works in a related field, so he knows all about insurance programs, in a management/big picture/financial sort of way. He won’t be thrilled to see that WashU charges us for this unnecessary coverage.</p>
<p>To clarify:
I’ve heard people in student health (and in various doctors offices) claim that it’s a missouri state law that a college must require all of its students to have school insurance.</p>
<p>^^You are referring to a law that exists in many states. However, if you can prove you already have insurance (with a group number, for instance) that bypasses the law and you can “opt-out”. </p>
<p>However, if WashU’s agreement with Aetna does not have their “opt-out” option, families must buy insurance, even if they already have it. I have not called or written to WashU to confirm this, but it looks as if there isn’t an opt-out option.</p>