omega's
01-23-2008, 04:08 PM
I enrolled in CMI's health insurance at the beginning of January but just last night read through the benefits because I was considering making an appointment for a regular office visit.
Being accustomed to the $50 deductible while on island, it didn't occur to me to check the deductible applied to those in clinicals. I knew the rates were higher but I didn't think about the deductible being higher as well.
This means you have to spend over $500 EACH TIME you are injured or get sick in order to benefit from this health insurance. On-island, CMI is a nice deal but when you get back to the US, do some shopping for health insurance. I know there are cheaper alternatives out there (especially for spouses: male or female spouse pays over $1200 for the 4-month semester). If you're a healthy person, you'll never get a benefit from this insurance and you'll pay out of pocket every time you see a doctor.
The URL for the policy for those on-island: SABA Insurance Plans (http://www.cmi-insurance.com/SABA.html)
For clinicals: SABA Clinical Insurance Benefits (http://www.studyabroadinsurance.com/SABA/SABA%20Clinical%202007-2008/sabaclinicalbenefits2007-2008.html)
For benefits questions, you can reach CMI at 410.583.2595 or their claims dept for specific claims questions at 888.293.9229.
I will be talking to my old company (I was a financial advisor in a former life) to find out about individual health insurance and can post here if anyone is interested.
One caveat to getting individual insurance outside of CMI once you are stateside is pregnancy. I don't know of a policy out there that doesn't list pregnancy as an exclusion. With CMI, if you were pregnant before you enroll with them, you need to have been covered by a qualifying plan for the prior 63 days or they won't cover the pregnancy either.
All that said, I have used CMI for the last 2 years and while I've not had to file a claim wiht them, I have had fantastic experiences every time I had an issue and needed help. If Carrie was unable to answer my questions or help me, I was passed directly to the VP covering our policies. He went above and beyond for our family.
If anyone else has good health insurance information or sources (especially for families), please post here. Everyone can benefit from the work each of us has already done.
Thanks!!!
Being accustomed to the $50 deductible while on island, it didn't occur to me to check the deductible applied to those in clinicals. I knew the rates were higher but I didn't think about the deductible being higher as well.
This means you have to spend over $500 EACH TIME you are injured or get sick in order to benefit from this health insurance. On-island, CMI is a nice deal but when you get back to the US, do some shopping for health insurance. I know there are cheaper alternatives out there (especially for spouses: male or female spouse pays over $1200 for the 4-month semester). If you're a healthy person, you'll never get a benefit from this insurance and you'll pay out of pocket every time you see a doctor.
The URL for the policy for those on-island: SABA Insurance Plans (http://www.cmi-insurance.com/SABA.html)
For clinicals: SABA Clinical Insurance Benefits (http://www.studyabroadinsurance.com/SABA/SABA%20Clinical%202007-2008/sabaclinicalbenefits2007-2008.html)
For benefits questions, you can reach CMI at 410.583.2595 or their claims dept for specific claims questions at 888.293.9229.
I will be talking to my old company (I was a financial advisor in a former life) to find out about individual health insurance and can post here if anyone is interested.
One caveat to getting individual insurance outside of CMI once you are stateside is pregnancy. I don't know of a policy out there that doesn't list pregnancy as an exclusion. With CMI, if you were pregnant before you enroll with them, you need to have been covered by a qualifying plan for the prior 63 days or they won't cover the pregnancy either.
All that said, I have used CMI for the last 2 years and while I've not had to file a claim wiht them, I have had fantastic experiences every time I had an issue and needed help. If Carrie was unable to answer my questions or help me, I was passed directly to the VP covering our policies. He went above and beyond for our family.
If anyone else has good health insurance information or sources (especially for families), please post here. Everyone can benefit from the work each of us has already done.
Thanks!!!