School Health Insurance

[Donno70]

Does anyone have the school health Insurance and If so, can you elaborate? Judging from the price, I assume it's catastrophe only plan, but let me know anyways. Thanks.

DM

[SMU_Information]

http://www.student-resources.net/college/ViewBrochures.aspx

Go here and select St. Matthew's, that should let you see everything.

[JTP73]

Does anyone know if there is somewhere else I can reference insurance info for SMU? The link in the previous post has not been working...

Thanks!

JP

[thatguy]

the insurance offered through the school is basically just emergency coverage. there is another company that provides the same insurance for much cheaper, or you could get coverage that would allow doctor's visits for the same price as the insurance from the school. the website is www.imglobal.com.

[Bedazzled]

JTP and anyone else interested,

You can get to the same place JP posted by going to www.studentresources.net. Then click on college students. Then click on View Policy Details. Finally choose SMU from the pull down menu.

Hope this helps!

Christen

[Bedazzled]

From what I read on the website/brochure, it appears that this insurance plan is like any other health insurance. It covers medical emergencies as well as office visits, prescriptions (after the $100 deductible has been met), etc.

Maybe someone who has this insurance and has gone to the doctor or used it can tell us more about it. :)

[Bedazzled]

So this may be a dumb question... but under cost of insurance... this would be my situation....

$329 for me and $1127 for spouse

Is this an annual fee or monthly? (Please say I don't have to pay over 1,000 for my husband's insurance every month.... that seems crazy, so I'm hoping I'm just worrying here).

Thanks again,
Christen

::Kindly ignore this post::

But if you're wondering... the answer is that is the cost / semester. Still a bit pricey, but much better than every month! :)

Christen

[ol' man]

That price is per semester.

[J10sstar]

Do we need to sign up for the health insurance before we arrive on the island or is this something we do during orientation?? No one has mentioned anyone from SMU so I was just curious about this.

[Jeep23Guy]

I have the school health insurance. I went to the doctor and they told me that it didn't cover anything. I had to get a prescription and the insurance didn't cover anything. I have submitted claims for both of these to the insurance company and I guess I'll see how that goes, but I'm not expecting to be reimbursed.

[Knight007]

I was told that the insurance does cover doctor's visits when needed.

But i'm still confused about the terms.

[jonasp]

so who is using this coverage? and is it legit and cover most regular things that insurances cover like doctor visits and prescription meds? anyone who has info or is using this insurance please post

thanks

[Knight007]

It definitely is a very legit insurance. Other Schools like SGU use this same insurance.

I just went back in my email inbox and found the Insurance Policy brochure
that I got in pdf form from SMU upon request about 2 weeks back.

Your Doctor's visits and prescriptions are covered. Theres a deductible of $250/ year
for Doctor's visits and $100/ year for Prescriptions.
Which in plain lingo means you pay the first $250 of the doctor's visits ..and the
rest of the expenses for the ENTIRE Year will be covered by Insurance.

Same thing for Prescriptions: You pay the first $100 of the year, and if your prescriptions go above $100 then Insurance will cover it.

So basically you wont pay more than $250 for vists in a year
and you wont pay more than $100 in prescriptions in one year.

The person also told me there were no co-payments a patient would have to make,
which is surprising, cuz usually there's 5 to $10 copayment.
No complaints there from me!
However, I was advised to check with Insurance to check if they would
cover what you wanted before you go to the doctor.

[jonasp]

What is this premium they charge when you sign up? Do i have to pay for the entire year at once? or can i break it up also on the application they have the years wrong i think they want 2005-2006. Can i pay monthly instead of all at once?

[Knight007]

What is this premium they charge when you sign up? and how much is it for?

As far as I know, Premiums are what you pay to Insurance to "buy"
their insurance. For us they are per semester, and monthly when you
graduate from SMU. This premium will also be deducted from your
Financial Aid every semester. So if you are under 30 years of age,
Fin Aid will deduct $329 from your Financial Aid package Every Semester.

Your Insurance coverage kicks in for the first time when you start your first day of classes.

Premium Rates

Student Under 30
Semester $329

Student 30 to 39
Semester $395

Student 40 to 49
Semester $576

Student 50 and Over
Semester $709

Spouse Under 30
Semester $864

Spouse 30 and Over
Semester $1,127

All Children
Semester $435

Continuation - Monthly Premium
Student $154
Spouse $381
Children $166

[jonasp]

so why do i need to pay by credit card or check on the application form if the premium is deducted from financial aid?

[Knight007]

Jonasp, I dont know. Maybe you are confusing it with the Seat deposit ?

Call up Admissions today, best way to find out. Good luck.

[medjen]

The insurance may have a $250 deductible for doctor's visits - but they don't cover hardly any doctors. Pretty much any specialist (podiatry, dermatology, etc) will not be covered - even if you have a referral or if it is of medical necessity. You have to read all the exceptions for the plan and once you do that, you find out that basically nothing is covered.

[jonasp]

yes that is correct, you are only covered if there is an emergency like a hurricane and they need to evacuate you off the island you get a free plane ride.(well its not really free you are paying for the service) you are not covered for anything else. That being the case shouldn't we just pay for the first semester? after december hurricane season is over we shouldn't need to pay all year for hurricane insurance.

[billydoc]

Hi Guys!
Does anybody know if it's possible to just decline school's medical insurance? I'd rather keep the one I have now, as well as my doc and Rx benefits. I have chronic medical condition, and cannot afford "Russian Roulette", or "Musical chairs" at least. That's what this insurance sounds like to me.

Tnx

[steaa]

ggggggggggddddddddddddddddfffffff

[billydoc]

Billdoc, yes it's possible to decline the school's medical insurance and keep the one you have now. What u need to do is provide copies of your current policy and insurance card. Also, send them a proof of additional insurance for emergency evacuation and repatriation. The emergency evacuation is $50.00 for yourself and $100 for you and your spouse. The benefit is $100,000. The website for this is http://foreignsure.com/vindex.html. Hope this helps!

Steaa thanks very much! It's a great help.

[steaa]

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[jonasp]

i think u can keep yours but will you be covered while on the island? you need to purchase their emergency insurance unfortunately it is required. If we ever need to leave the island you will be glad u paid.

[JTP73]

Maybe the new SMU official can fill in the blanks to the answers contained within this post... Puh-leez!

I, too, am wondering what most of the students choose for their medical insurance, and also, what the plan covers when you are in the US.

Mucho gracias in advance!

JP

[SMU-Info]

I believe most of the original questions were answered however you can go to www.studentresources.com (http://www.studentresources.com/) and you should be able to find additional information there. If you have your own insurance and it will cover you no matter where you are (not in the US) then all you will need to add is the travel insurance. In purchasing the school insurance, you will be covered in both the Caymans and Maine.

[JTP73]

W/o reading through the entire website... I would like to know if the insurance is added as part of tuition that gets deducted from student loans, or is the student obligated to pay for this after the fact.

Thanks!

JP

[khamilton]

It is included in the tuition and fees that will be deducted form your financial aid unless you have proff of enrollment in another comparable plan.

My experience with the insurance has not been a good one. I have had two minor emergencies since starting medical school and the insurance has refused to cover any of them even after supplying them with all the info and documentation thay requested. In additon they refused to cover any medications that were required as well. If you have a current insurance that will cover you out of the country and includes med. evac. then I would stick with it and do a waiver for the schools. This would be particularly important if you have a pre-existing condition that needs to be monitored by a physician. They have not been willing to cover emergencies so I would have no confidence in them covering routein maintinence.

[JTP73]

It is included in the tuition and fees that will be deducted form your financial aid unless you have proff of enrollment in another comparable plan.

My experience with the insurance has not been a good one. I have had two minor emergencies since starting medical school and the insurance has refused to cover any of them even after supplying them with all the info and documentation thay requested. In additon they refused to cover any medications that were required as well. If you have a current insurance that will cover you out of the country and includes med. evac. then I would stick with it and do a waiver for the schools. This would be particularly important if you have a pre-existing condition that needs to be monitored by a physician. They have not been willing to cover emergencies so I would have no confidence in them covering routein maintinence.

Thanks for the response, and sorry about the minor emergencies. Do you know of others who have chosen other plans that have been better? If so, which ones?

Thanks in advance.

JP

[jonasp]

if its deducted from the tuition how come on the application it asks for us to pay for the premium via check or credit card? please let me know if i got the right insurance and if anybody has seen this on the application as well as the error they made with regard to the years on the application.(9-1-04-1-1-05) please explain thanks

[Nimmuk]

The take the premium out of your fiancial aid. I just got my invoice for 2nd semester and I see the insurance amount there. Thus, you do not have to pay it in any othe way.

[khamilton]

Do you know of others who have chosen other plans that have been better? If so, which ones?

There are many insurance companies that have an option to have coverage when out of the US. (EDIT: If you have insurance currently I would check to see if they have an option. Others you can look at are Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Cigna, Aetna, United Healthcare, AFLAC, and also check with the company that does your home owners or car insurances as they may have "travel insurance" options available.)

How these usually work is you will have to pay out of pocket and the insurance company will re-imburse you. There are some that will cover you in other countries straight but I have found none such that work that way in Cayman. One note though, health care in general is much cheaper in Cayman than we are used to in the US and many of the doctors will give you a discount if they know you are a medical student. It is a good idea to start a relationship with a physician on the island before you need one. It you have a relationship established many physicians will refill prescription and give routine meds with out having to see you.

In addition to the regular insurance you will need to purchase "Med. Evac." insurance. This does not, like someone stated before, pay to remove you from the island in the event of a natural disaster. It will pay to have you transported from the island to the main land in the case of a medical emergency that can not be safely or effectively handled on island. These insurance should be fairly inexpensive in the range of $100-$200 per year.

Hope this helps.