<p>DD received an email about the Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP). There is an option to buy it at $1,276 or to decline it. I was planning to decline, as we have Blue Cross through work coverage. Are there any reasons to reconsider this? Are there good reasons to buy it?</p>
<p>The first thing you need to do is find out exactly what kind of coverage you already have. It is not enough to say you have Blue Cross. There are many, many, many different types of plans all under the umbrella of Blue Cross, all with varying types of coverage and benefits. Insurance is designed to daze and confuse. It is difficult to know what is covered from one day to the next, so DO NOT ASSUME ANYTHING!!!</p>
<p>Is your current plan a PPO or HMO? </p>
<p>Do you have out-of-state coverage? Yes, you are a Maryland resident, but many students do travel out-of-state either on school-sponsored field trips or on road trips with friends.</p>
<p>Do you have out-of-network benefits? If not, you can only see physicians that are in-network, which means they have a contract as a participating provider.</p>
<p>Does your employer have a customized plan? If so, that means they may have elected to offer a certain level of coverage, but have predetermined that they will not cover a particular service, a particular medication, etc that another employer with the same name plan does cover.</p>
<p>If your plan does not have the flexibility of out-of-network benefits or out-of-state, can you pay extra to upgrade your plan? Is there a specific service/plan/rider that they offer for college students?</p>
<p>I have not seen what the school is offering, so I cannot offer an opinion yet, but I would pose similar questions of that plan. In addition, does the school insurance include prescription coverage? Does it require that you utilize only the Health Center on campus? If you sign up with that coverage, does it become the primary insurance or the secondary?</p>
<p>Talk to your human resource personnel at work or call your insurance carrier directly so you know what your options are and can make an informed decision.</p>
<p>Also, the reason why I asked if your plan is an HMO or PPO is because even though you are in-state, an HMO may not cover services rendered at the University Health Center. HMO’s are restrictive in additional ways that are not worth defining here - it is enough to know to ask that question when considering whether to decline or buy the university’s health plan…</p>
<p>We always decline it. We also make sure we check out what the health services are that are available for medical emergencies. And, yes, they have happened.</p>
<p>I have a PPO-only federal employee plan of BCBS. We can only go to PPO’s. The PPO network is quite large. I figured that my daughter could see her own doctor, since she is only about 15 miles from home.</p>
<p>I just looked up available doctors for my BCBS plan for College Park. Interestingly enough, I found this option. This appears to be on campus.</p>
<p>University of Maryland<br>
Building 140 Building 140
College Park, MD 20742</p>