Health Insurance

[purplepepper]

Has anyone looked at the benefits in their health insurance package? Anything that anyone has found surprising? I'm curious, becuase I didn't pick my school for its health insurance, but I'm wondering if I should have....well nothing I can do about that now.

With the school I chose: health insurance is pretty comprehensive except for the fact that it doesnt include preventitive visits! no physical checkups, so does that mean, for us gals no paps or mammograms too? is that normal? am I missing something?

Otherwise it's pretty standard, dependent coverage is available for a fee (i think a spouse is something like $1000 for the year), referrals are available, pregnancy benefits, and of course if you are sick or exhibit symptoms an need a diagnosis that's all covered.

dental and vision optional.

anyone else?

[SocViv]

With the school I chose: health insurance is pretty comprehensive except for the fact that it doesnt include preventitive visits! no physical checkups, so does that mean, for us gals no paps or mammograms too? is that normal? am I missing something?

That doesn't sound normal, but did you look at what the deductible is? You may be covered for physicals and well-care after a certain (very low) deductible is met. I would imagine, though, that if sick visits are covered by your plan, then preventative visits are covered somewhere. Best to ask your program director on those specifics - health insurance is purposefully confusing!

For my coverage, it's free to use the campus health center, but if I choose to go to a doctor off-campus then there's a $15 copay, plus a $250 deductible for "physicians' office visits" (which would include annual physicals or sick visits) after they cover 80% of the charge (or 50% of "non-preferred" care). And there's a separate section for "women's health", covering (100%) paps for all 18+ and mammograms for age 35+, and labs are covered at $2500 per condition. If I get sick, I'm covered up to $75,000 per injury or sickness, per year.

I've had a number of health plans over the years (private, through work and through school), and the student ones tend to be the most comprehensive in my experience. At least so long as you're generally healthy (eg, $75k doesn't go far for a long-term hospitalization!)

[wilderbeast]

I find the health insurance thing to be very complicated. I don't really understand how it all works yet - thus far I've been covered by my parents' insurance plans. I guess as a graduate student I get to pick a plan and pay premiums? I don't know how I'm going to afford it with my stipend... for some reason I thought that I just got some kind of coverage automatically. I didn't realize we have to do the premiums thing. I don't really know how it works...

[TKassis]

I find the health insurance thing to be very complicated. I don't really understand how it all works yet - thus far I've been covered by my parents' insurance plans. I guess as a graduate student I get to pick a plan and pay premiums? I don't know how I'm going to afford it with my stipend... for some reason I thought that I just got some kind of coverage automatically. I didn't realize we have to do the premiums thing. I don't really know how it works...

Same here. I find it so confusing. It really scares me. I can't figure out what is a good plan and what isn't. Why can't we just have universal healthcare and not worry about this stuff. I attended undergraduate university in England. I didn't have to worry about a single thing when it came to healthcare, everything was free, even for international students. Even dental work and braces were free for under 19. All the process involved was me opening an envelope in the mail that had my NHS card. I would go to doctors, hospitals, therapists... and all they needed was my name. I didn't even have to show them my card.

The amount of stress involved with getting coverage in the US is by itself a cause of health concern!!! Needless to say the financial cost... and the ridiculous amount of paperwork you have to go through everytime you actually need some form of health care.

[rising_star]

I find the health insurance thing to be very complicated. I don't really understand how it all works yet - thus far I've been covered by my parents' insurance plans. I guess as a graduate student I get to pick a plan and pay premiums? I don't know how I'm going to afford it with my stipend... for some reason I thought that I just got some kind of coverage automatically. I didn't realize we have to do the premiums thing. I don't really know how it works...

Check with your university and see if they offer any kind of health insurance for graduate students. If you're fairly healthy, what you really need is a plan with a decently high deductible so that it will kick in if something major happens but has low monthly premiums. A lot of schools, particularly in the Midwest and most places where grad students are unionized, has health insurance coverage at no cost to GA/RA/TA folks. At other places, the school subsidizes your insurance. Also, there's the possibility of staying on your parents' plan depending on its rules and regulations.

[Leahlearns]

I haven't heard anything about health insurance, but I've been wondering about it. It looks like I can buy health insurance through the school using some of the money I am receiving in loans. How incredibly complicated! I don't know if I should just sign up for that or if I should look into other options and compare.