<p>My ds is currently on a high deductible private plan for medical only at $54 a month. It appears that Cal's UC Ship which includes dental, vision and medical with a $200 deductible, will cost $2,134 for the 13-14 year. We live in SoCal so it would be nice to know he can get medical care on campus with UC Ship however, when he comes home and needs to see a doctor, he needs to get an approval first. Anyone have experience with having or not having UC Ship or any other thoughts?</p>
<p>No experience, as our freshman will be starting in the fall. He has full coverage under our insurance, so we plan to waive UC SHIP. It looks like a great plan, and philosophically, I like the idea of him getting his medical care on campus, but it’s an extra $2K I don’t want to spend. It costs me $0 extra to have him on my health plan along with my other kids. He doesn’t have any special medical needs; if he did, I might think harder about SHIP. Our plan is to look for a primary care doc for him in Berkeley somewhere if he needs anything, and he can take the bus or ride a bike to get there.</p>
<p>We have our family enrolled in a high deductible insurance plan, and chose to waive SHIP. Our son does not have any chronic conditions or unusual medical needs. </p>
<p>All students can use the Tang (health services) Center even if they do not have SHIP. Students who have SHIP pay less out of pocket at the time of service. The fees are so low that it costs less to use Tang than it would to visit a local in-network physician. (This is under the terms of our insurance plan; yours may be different). here are some examples of common fees: </p>
<p>[UHS</a> Tang Center](<a href=“http://uhs.berkeley.edu/Students/medical/samplefees.shtml]UHS”>Billing & Cashier Office | University Health Services)</p>
<p>The couple of times he went to Tang this year, he paid the fee at the time of the visit. Then he sent me the paperwork and I submitted it to our insurance just like for any other out-of-network provider. The full cost was applied to our deductible. This was much easier than tracking down a local primary care physician in our plan that was taking new patients and had a same or next day appointment available, and then having a sick kid schlep across town to get there.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the replies. My son doesn’t have any medical conditions either so I think - for at least the first year - I’ll waive Ship insurance and see how that goes. </p>
<p>Our plan is an Anthem Blue Cross $5,000 deductible plan.</p>