UR health insurance?

<p>i'm trying to decide whether to take UR's health insurance policy or get myself covered by a differerent/better (if there is) policy?
can anyone tell me how good Rochester's insurance plan is and what are the areas it covers? And also, does it cover dental care?
thanks!</p>

<p>Is it correct to assume that you are not eligible to be covered under a parent's plan? That would be the cheapest in the long run.</p>

<p>no you can be covered by your parents' plan (that's what i'm doing)
you have to tell them before a certain date i think though</p>

<p>I'm also trying to make that determination for my D, who will be a freshman this year. I contacted the UR's insurance office and had an email conversation w/ them.</p>

<p>First, UR's plan is administered the BCBS of Rochester. The coverage looks OK, but I have some issues w/it and ultimately decided NOT to purchase their coverage for my D.</p>

<p>My big objection was that she must have a Rochester area primary care Dr. approve ALL out-of-area treatments in advance--except for medical emergencies. Since D will be spending summers approx 1800 miles away from ROC, this could be a serious problem. Any non-emergency doctor visits in the summer likely would end up out-of-pocket. There is no provision for transferring coverage to a local BCBS for the summer. So unless you live close to ROC, this should be something to consider. </p>

<p>Also the Rochester BCBS does use the primary care doc as gatekeeper---all specialist/therapy etc. visits must be pre-approved by the primary care doc. How well/poorly this may work depends heavily upon the how the local system operates-- something I can't determine from afar. </p>

<p>Lastly the prescription coverage in the plan is pretty skimpy/non-existent. I think there's the option for purchasing additional prescription coverage from different carrier, but that plan requires the student obtain his prescriptions from a particular chain pharmacy which is not especially close to campus.
(Remember, however, your UR health fee covers the some of the most commonly prescribed meds that students take and which are available from the student health center in Sue B. at a discounted price)</p>

<p>Correct--the University Health service fees covers visits to the infirmary for lots of routine things. If things get serious, it's nice to know the Strong Medical Center is right across the street.</p>

<p>Even nicer to know that Strong Medical Center docs are on my PPO's provider list!</p>