Nurse Cynthia Rinaldi, right, demonstrates giving a shot to Merril Lavezzo of Sacramento, a fifth-year student and a health promotion intern at the Cowell Student Health Center. (Cheng Saechao/UC Davis)
A freak accident, a sudden illness -- parents don't want to think of these things happening when their son or daughter is away at college. But they still need to plan ahead when it comes to their student's health care.
"Accidents happen every day, no matter who you are or where you are," says Todd Atwood, insurance services supervisor at the Cowell Student Health Center on campus. "It's better to be safe than sorry."
Parents have two choices when considering the UC mandatory health insurance requirement: using their own insurance coverage or providing coverage through the campus's Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP).
Waiving mandatory plan
If your insurance provides comprehensive coverage for your child during his or her undergraduate years, then your student can submit a waiver application once a year to decline the mandatory insurance coverage through SHIP. The fall quarter deadline is Thursday, Sept. 20. Waiver applications approved after that date can still be applied to winter and spring quarters.
Sally Lischeske, insurance manager at the student health center, says a mandatory insurance plan was instituted at all UC campuses in the fall of 2001 after a study determined that nearly 40 percent of undergraduates were under-insured or uninsured.
Plan benefits
Through SHIP, a student is covered year-round with three quarterly payments of $267, a fee that appears on the same bill for registration fees. The plan provides comprehensive health care underwritten by Blue Cross and includes dental care through Delta Dental.
SHIP also covers students during worldwide travel, has a low deductible of $100 and can serve as secondary coverage. Parents can actually save money by having their child enrolled in two plans if their personal insurance deductible is high, Lischeske says.
Students can still use student health services even if they are not enrolled in SHIP, Atwood says. The student health center provides low-cost services, no matter the student's insurance plan.
If a student covered by SHIP needs to seek medical care while not at school (during a quarter or summer break, for example), they would first need to get a referral from the health center to be sure that SHIP will pay the claim.
Should a student's registration status change, he or she needs to find out how that impacts SHIP eligibility.
For more information and to fill out a waiver, visit the health insurance web site.
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