<p>7/27 - filled out
7/29 - approved
8/1 - no charge on my account.</p>
<p>It might help that I have Aetna to begin with and that I did it relatively early. Either way, I’ve been audited every year and always approved within the time frame they’ve given me.</p>
<p>It would definitely be smarter to contact SBI instead of Aetna if you have trouble since they are probably better able to help you since it is their rules that you need to follow, not Aetna’s.</p>
<p>8-7 - Submitted
8-10 - Accepted</p>
<p>We have Aetna so that may be why it was so quick to get the waiver.</p>
<p>Also, when Miami son was starting school, I called Aetna (call you r carrier) to ask what we will do if he needs medical care in the area. ER (obvious) or any walk-in-center that takes Aetna. All his care was taken care of at he schools health center (and we were not billed). I think the student’s are automatically covered on campus, it is just when you need services off premises that you have to be concerned with. Anyone know this for sure?</p>
<p>It is our experience that this whole mandatory insurance thing is a ripoff, we know of no other school that makes it a challenge to waive their insurance. We had excellent group insurance, we opted out of a drug plan, the school forced it on us. We made called each year and were told that they never ever had a complaint before. Judging by this thread, that seems unlikely. I believe Aetna has some sort of relationship with UB encouraging them to force their plan down our throats. The cost of the plan jumped astronomically over the past few years.
Each year getting the waiver is a bigger pain. Yes you do have to watch your bill, yes you can waive, yes you can be “audited” by them. And yes it is a ripoff. Just a humble opinion.</p>
<p>^ yeah I agree with you.</p>
<p>I think UB’s medical insruance should be optional instead of mandatory, just like SUNY Albany (I believe Albany’s medical insruance is optional) </p>
<p>And yes, why is UB’s student medical insruance so expensive. I believe stony brook’s student medical insurance (Aetna). Why is Stony Brook so much cheaper than UB</p>
<p>I can understand mandating some type of health insurance given the cost to everyone for uninsured people. But if a student on a tight budget opts for a less expensive catastrophic policy, they are protected from huge expenses should the need arise. To make each student, for example, get a drug option is ridiculous, everyone else in the world has the choice, that’s why it is an option. The explanation we got was that the school felt that every student should have equivalent coverage as one without drug coverage may feel inferior to one who had it. Again, they led us to believe that nobody ever questioned this. I have to think that the insurer saw a huge market for subscribers and somehow negotiated the mandates and wants as many subscribers as possible. Huge groups mean huge profits for insurers esp considering the age group.</p>
<p>Whldch, that is very interesting…the criteria they’re using this year (see post 12) says nothing about drug coverage! I agree that it’s difficult to believe that no one else had a problem with that. Just as I think it’s baloney that no other insurer would refuse to give information without a written request. If SubBoard I is student-owned, for the benefit of UB students, I’d love to know who is making these rules and deals with Aetna. Any students out there who know how SBI operates?</p>
<p>sk8rmom - here is link for waiver of insurance - prescription coverage is indeed listed, and has been for as long as we’ve been involved. We have had to pay a premium to add this coverage that was almost as much as the entire UB insurance premium. This was an unnecessary expense, we rarely as a family have filled prescriptions, and if the need arose, would have gladly paid out of pocket for any necessary meds. The other thing that doesn’t sit well is that the waiver and investigating into your insurance coverage is done I believe by Aetna, not UB. </p>
<p>[Student</a> Medical Insurance](<a href=“http://subboard.com/insurance/]Student”>http://subboard.com/insurance/)</p>
<p>Okay, I see that now…but the odd thing is that if Aetna (yes, it is Aetna) can’t get the info by phone to confirm, the actual form that the student must have signed by their carrier says nothing about prescription coverage. The carrier only has to certify that $100K/condition and inpatient/outpatient coverage is included!</p>
<p>Our original form did ask about prescription drug coverage, when we checked off that no we did not have prescription coverage, we got automatically denied for the waiver. we then went and added the rider for drugs on our policy (reluctantly) and reapplied for the waiver. Seconds after we pressed the button for this waiver we got an auto response that we were chosen for audit, meaning they had to personally confirm that we did purchase the rider. It was more than a little weird.</p>
<p>Hi whldch, can you tell me how can I tell if I am chosen for audit, does Aetna send an e-mail or any kind of notification?</p>
<p>Yes, CluelessKid.
You will receive an email right after you applied for the waiver.
It doesn’t tell you on the last page of the waiver from what FAQs claimed, but that’s from what I remember so I can’t be 100% positive.
However, I am very positive that they will send you an email about your situation.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure that everyone gets audited. Once it’s approved the email will tell you that the school is has been told to credit your account $2000.</p>
<p>I was able to waive my insurance cost with my family’s Aetna plan. It took about a week to receive the confirmation email and then another couple days for it to be deducted from my bill.</p>
<p>I’m not so sure everyone gets audited, seems like a monumental task. As I recall the first year we had to check off what coverage we had, and failed to check off prescription coverage. What followed was a ridiculous amount of emails, audits, etc. They did not email me to tell me the waiver went through, I had to check the account.</p>
<p>Hello! I’m wondering if someone could help. I currently have Affinity (covers in nassau county) and I’ve already called them and they do not cover in Erie County. I’m 17 years old, so I am with my mother’s insurance plan. Does anyone know of an insurance plan that covers in Nassau County and Erie County so I can be eligible for this waiver? I can’t afford $2,000 a year for health insurance</p>
<p>Edit: Also does it have to be just medical, or does it need to include Vision and Dental?</p>
<p>When does the waiver process start for the coming year?</p>
<p>kathdasilva - to answer your question and some of the others that have popped up, Most schools provide a health plan for students. We have had 3 students in 3 different universities, and only encountered problems at UB. Most health plans have provisions for out of state or out of region coverage. If yours does not you may consider the UB plan. I agree with those who have criticized the way UB handles this. You must have coverage equal to the one they offer otherwise you will not be granted a waiver. The University plan, for example, includes drug coverage. If you or your family have opted out of this, UB will not give you a waiver. You need to see what is on it. Our student had good coverage and we would have been happy to have paid for any meds if the need arose, but it was like talking to a wall to bet them to waive this. I have to agree with past contributors who feel that they were ambushed into the Aetna plan, we were. If we had no coverage for the Western NY area we would have happily gotten the Aetna plan. </p>
<p>To answer your question more completely, Aetna, Blue Cross and other more global plans typically pay for care with one of their providers in most geographic areas.</p>
I know this was five years go, but did UB accept Fidelis?
You need to send UB your specific insurance plan before they accept the waiver. I’ve had three kids at different SUNYs and UB is the ONLY one that made us complete paperwork to get out of their health coverage. The others may have asked us to provide health insurance before freshman year, but it never came up again.