<p>Hello,
Looking for some input from folks who have been in this situation.
My student has coverage for emergency and urgent care including ambulance services through my employment insurance. This is a HMO policy and care in Chicago would be out of network coverage with higher co-pays for us which we are of course OK with and a phone call from us (parent or student) to the insurance provider/primary physician in network within 48 hours of needing urgent or emergency care.
Routine care will not be provided for which we see no need
We did not see a problem in not using USHIP for routine care as this can be done when the student comes home.
UChicago however is insisting on student health insurance policy . The University's stand is that we do not meet criteria for comparable insurance per their audit of our waiver request because our insurance provider will not provide routine care in the Chicago area and a phone call for pre-auth is necessary for emergency care/urgent care . Our insurance provider reports that they will cover emergency and urgent care for the student and the only thing they will not cover is routine and follow up care and the pre-authorization is merely a phone call. They are willing to clarify their side with the University . We tried to clarify this issue with the University but to no avail.</p>
<p>Since a lot of students may need out of network coverage, is the expectation that students/parents take 2 insurance policies simultaneously - a new one for the Chicago area in addition to existing local area coverage for times when the student comes home? Is any body else bothered by the wasteful nature of this exercise or is there something obvious that I am missing.What is the right thing to do?</p>
<p>It’s a fairly complicated situation. I would work with the insurance people to see if there is not some middle ground. For example, is it possible to obtain a supplemental policy for routine care in the Chicago area? </p>
<p>I believe the insurance program is administered by a vendor. I would also seek assistance from someone inside the University to intercede on your behalf. Perhaps your own company can help with options as well.</p>
<p>I agree that it is wasteful (and unnecessarily expensive) to have two full policies with overlapping coverage. </p>
<p>Kaukauna,
Thanks for your reply.
Just heard from my insurance provider that they talked to the point person who was sending us emails about the rejection of our waiver request. This person has a uchicago.edu mail address . So I was under the impression that this person is from Uchicago . Is there someone else we should be in touch with?</p>
<p>I think you have the right person. It sounds like you are doing the right thing: having your insurance provider deal with the UChicago point person. </p>
<p>We have had the same situation and did not waive the USHIP. You cannot have Only urgent care coverage. At the time to buy the coverage for the waiver will cost more and have less coverage, so we went with the Uship. Obama care may have change that. </p>
<p>This problem is not unique to U of Chicago, and there can be a variety of reasons why colleges don’t accept “your” insurance. We had a similar situation at another college where our deductible was too high per person (over their stated limit). In our case, the college offered a form for us to sign stating that we could afford to pay the higher copay (although it wasn’t a lot, $900/year over). Then they let us waive. In our case it was the Dean of Student’s office that told us about the waiver form. </p>
<p>I can sort of see how your problem is different, though. Kids go to the ER for a variety of reasons, but one is too much alcohol. And they are often reluctant to tell their parents, although eventually the parents find out due to the medical bills. Also, you kid will be (or will soon be if not when they first get their) over 18. Hard as it is to accept, no one has any responsibility from the hospital to notify you if your kid is admitted. There are scenarios where you may not be contacted if he can’t tell them who to call due to whatever illness or injury he is being treated for, or if he doesn’t wish to have you contacted. You may not win this one.</p>