<p>WOW, the plan is expensive, this is what a student has to pay for UCSD health plan.
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<p>The premium is only part of the equation. Copayment and deductible tell the full story. </p>
<p>Can OP’s D buy an individual plan off the state exchange? It may be cheaper than UCSB’s. I thought I remembered reading that colleges want out of the insurance business, so their premiums might be higher than the marketplace, in order to encourage students to get their own. </p>
<p>@charliesch - We were told that the plan covers students for the whole 12 months as long as they are students.</p>
<p>I have a bad feeling we will have the same situation this year as we switched plans and now my son will not have out of state routine coverage except for emergencies. (He goes to college out of state.). His school or someone they contract with evaluates every plan when you apply to waive their health coverage and decides whether or not it is comparable. His school’s plan does not cover 12 months unless you pay extra, so I think we might have to double up. </p>
<p>(Why would someone not want to be seen at a teaching hospital? That would be my top choice of hospitals to go to! Usually more pensive but better, more specialized care.)</p>
<p>I’m not saying this to be sarcastic, but how often do all of your kids need to use their health insurance while they are at college? We’ve used the waiver for 7 years of college so far, and our kids have never seen a physician at their college. Their routine visits have been scheduled at home during breaks, and any true emergency room visit, urgent care visit, or emergency hospital admittance is covered at any facility anywhere in the country. What does your Kaiser coverage do if you need an emergency appendectomy when you are on the east coast for business? Tell you to hop the first flight back to California for full insurance coverage? Wouldn’t Kaiser cover an emergency admitance or an urgent care visit when your child is out of the immediate area? Why does UCSB have the right make the decision that the closest Kaiser facility is too far away? </p>
<p>Edit: on second thought, my kids HAVE used our insurance a few times while away at college, but even then, they weren’t necessarily actually AT the college itself. One needed stitches while at a cross country meet 5 hours away from his college. He went to an urgent care clinic. Our insurance covered it 100%. </p>
<p>All of our children’s colleges have had a similar requirements, so maybe not ALL colleges require this but I think most do. In the case of UCSB, it often takes 1-1/2 hours to get to Ventura in traffic. Many HMO’s will not cover a student if they can show that the patient is residing as a student outside of the area covered by the HMO. Most HMO’s will cover emergency care outside of their coverage area, but if they can show the care is for a student residing at college out of their area, they may not cover it. This did happen to someone we know. Their son broke his leg at school and received care at the local ER. The insurance company found out he was living away at college and denied coverage. The family had to pay a bundle! If you have a PPO this may not be an issue and at least UCSD will waive their requirement if your PPO is valid out of your area. </p>
<p>I’m mad about this too. I posted back in June about it:
<a href=“Has anyone enrolled their student in an Affordable Care Act plan to opt out of campus insurance? - Parent Cafe - College Confidential Forums”>Has anyone enrolled their student in an Affordable Care Act plan to opt out of campus insurance? - Parent Cafe - College Confidential Forums;
<p>This is a new policy this year. They reduced the maximum radius for network provider by only 10 miles, suspiciously just enough to eliminate Kaiser Ventura from the acceptable range. Each campus seems to have their own formula for maximum provider distance based on vague factors. UCLA and Davis both allow students a much wider radius for coverage. Why should that be? Kaiser will cover emergencies in an out of network hospital and the on campus Student Health Clinic offers care for 99% of issues that afflict the 18-25 year old crowd for nominal fees. I suspect they reduced the radius because too many people were requesting waivers and they probably can’t generate enough money for the plan they contracted (Anthem Blue Cross). Coverage through Covered California would cost about half as much, and that’s for a whole year-not just during the academic year. The problem is that we were not informed of this change in time for open enrollment, so the soonest one could switch to Covered California would be Jan 1, 2015 (enrolling in November 2014). </p>
<p>I think their plan is Aetna, not Anthem.</p>
<p>You are right calla1, they used Anthem last year so this is a new contract. </p>
<p>We just had a similar issue. Closest in-network providers to DDs school are 40 miles away and the closest hospital is 30 miles. The school is in a low traffic area (Vermont) so not a long drive and the school did agree to waive it. It makes me uncomfortable, though! So as of January 1 I will be switching D from her fathers plan and adding her to my plan for about $125/month. There are plenty of providers within 10 miles of the school.</p>
<p>I live in Santa Barbara so I am somewhat knowledgeable about the healthcare system in this area. One reason why insurance may be more expensive at UCSB than at other UC campuses is because Cottage Hospital has acquired all their competitors over the last 15 years, and as a functioning monopoly can force the insurance companies to agree to higher reimbursement rates than what they can negotiate in other communities. </p>
<p>If Kaiser is willing to cover emergency hospitalization at Cottage, then I see no reason why the OP shouldn’t be given a waiver.</p>
<p>Lbowie: Daughter did not want to return to her campus’s medical school teaching hospital because they were never able to give her the correct diagnoses for her illnesses. They missed her pneumonia (even with xrays)such that she had to go to the local private hospital who diagnosed the pneumonia. </p>
<p>Kaiser plans do typically cover emergency care elsewhere, but non-emergency care at non-Kaiser facilities would likely be non-covered and full pay. Perhaps UCSB’s student health service got tired of telling students with Kaiser plans that they had to go to the (relatively inconvenient to get to) Kaiser medical offices in Ventura for non-emergency care.</p>
<p>UC Davis was mentioned upthread as being lenient about waivers. Presumably, this is because the town of Davis has both a Kaiser facility and a non-Kaiser facility (UC Davis medical center), so students should be able to get non-emergency care conveniently. Davis is also closer to Sacramento than Santa Barbara is to Ventura.</p>
<p>It would not be easy for a college student without a car to get to Ventura from S B without a car. Add in the commute plus sitting in Dr office time and it would take a big chunk of time. Kaiser is not really the best option for someone at UCSB.</p>
<p>Completely agree it’s probably not the best option. But, I also think the UC is taking advantage of ACA-related changes to move the restrictions just out of Kaiser range and force more students into the school plan. If anyone really believes they are doing it because it’s better for the students you are dreaming, imho.</p>
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Perhaps the health service finds itself delivering services to students with Kaiser plans, and then having trouble collecting the fees.</p>
<p>It’s not so much the requirement for local insurance that is the issue as it is the cost. An unsubsidized Covered California plan, which satisfies all of the requirements stated on the UCSB Gauchohealth website, is only $124/month. The only plan offered by UCSB, equivalent to Platinum high option coverage rarely needed by this demographic, averages $208/month for 12 months. The two hospitals in Santa Barbara are operated by the same company, Sansum, so it’s not like the type of coverage is going to affect your choice for urgent care in the local market. I don’t even know if the UCSB coverage follows kids home during the summer and holiday breaks or if it is only in effect while they are in Santa Barbara. If it is only providing local coverage, then the price per month rises to about $280/month. </p>
<p>^^
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<p>Are you sure momsquad???</p>
<p>(Hint: compare the copayments and copays for labs (as one example – of the Bronze plans vs. the UCSB standard.)</p>
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<p>Indeed, most everyone covered the ACA could make the same claim – required services not needed for their demographic. (And many did!)</p>
<p>100% agree with the OP. How can we complain about this? Please let me know and sign me up.
UCSB requires 30 miles is not reasonable at all. Many other UC’s requirement is much further than that.</p>
<p>UCB 30 miles
UCD 175 miles
UCH 30 miles
UCI 50 miles
UCLA 100 miles
UCM 55 miles
UCR 30 miles
UCSB 30 miles
UCSC 30 miles
UCSD 40 miles
UCSF 50 miles</p>
<p>UCSB is specifically cutting Kaiser off, because many kids at UCSB are from either LA or SF area. Most of them have Kaiser for years. This a big business for UCSB and Aena! For us, changing insurance plan in the middle of the year is impossible. There is no money to pay for another insurance plan even for three month. Besides, $859 a quarter is way too much for what we are paying now. UCSB is ripping parents off on this. We need to complain and hopefully we can change their requirements.</p>