Students now have access to a University health insurance policy with lowered costs and increased benefits, a change many graduate students say is much-needed.
Changes to the policy, which took effect in August, feature a lower deductible and a greater amount of maximum lifetime coverage than last year's policy.
These changes will have the greatest impact on graduate students, who are the primary purchasers of University-sponsored insurance. Undergraduates tend to rely on their parents' policies, said Dr. Bill Christmas, director of student health.
"The deductible and lifetime maximum were seen as things that needed to be changed," said Mike Tino, president of the Graduate and Professional Student Council and member of the Student Health Insurance Advisory Committee, which was responsible for coming up with the changes.
Under the previous plan, University-insured students had to meet a $200 deductible. That amount has been reduced to $100 if students use facilities from the Preferred Provider Network, which is composed of specific hospitals across the state that have a special contract with the University's insurance agency, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of North Carolina. Most North Carolina hospitals are members of the network, Tino said.
The maximum amount of lifetime coverage has been raised from $200,000 to $1 million, while the premium has been reduced, which should make coverage extremely accessible to students, Christmas said.
"$600 is dirt cheap," he said. "You'd be hard-pressed to get coverage [outside of the University] for that."
The percentage of coverage has also increased. Previously, for medical costs up to $5000, the plan would pay for 80% of the costs. If medical expenses were greater than $5000, patients would pay $5000 and the policy would cover the rest. Currently, the carrier agency would pay 90% of medical expenses less than $1000. If the expenses exceed that amount, the insured would pay the first $1000, while Blue Cross/Blue Shield would pay the rest.
Many graduate students and administrators said they feel that the changes to the policy bring much-needed improvements.
"I thought [the former policy] was inadequate," said Catherine Gutman, a fourth-year graduate student in neurobiology. "[The changes are] an enormous improvement.... For catastrophic accidents, the insurance was inadequate."
Despite the improvements, however, other students said that they still have serious concerns about the policy.
Sloan Stribling, a fourth-year graduate student in cell biology, and former carrier of the University's insurance plan, said he feels one of the plan's problems is lack of coverage for preexisting conditions for one year.
This exclusion is not unique to Duke's plan, however, Christmas said. The reason for this particular exclusion, he said, is to prevent people from waiting to seek insurance until they become sick.
For students with preexisting conditions, there are some commonly used options, he said. Some choose to remain on their former plan while beginning their individual coverage through the University plan, but Christmas said this choice is usually not the most financially feasible.
Despite the preexisting condition limitation, he said, students with previously diagnosed illnesses still have the benefits of the student health fee of $192 per semester, which covers an unlimited number of visits to the student health department.
Tino also said that he had hoped to see coverage provided to same-sex partners of students. While the advisory committee agreed with such a proposal, Blue Cross/Blue Shield rejected it, he said.
Currently, students with traditional families can get family coverage by paying a premium of approximately $1890.
Other students said that they would like to see the University policy become optional for students who do not have outside insurance. "I just haven't found it to be very useful," said Lisa Dockery, a second-year graduate student in biomedical engineering, adding that she would rather go to the public health department for any medical treatment that she would need.
Although Christmas said that he feels the changes in the policy have been very positive, he said he does have some concerns about the new policy and its effects in light of changes in American health care.
"By decreasing the deductible from $200 to $100, we've removed a barrier to treatment," Christmas said. With increased access to insurance money, people may seek more expensive procedures and as a result, insurance premiums may rise, Christmas said.
The choice which students have in obtaining health care is also decreasing, Christmas said, as managed care gains an increasing presence in the United States. Health care providers must compromise between quality of coverage and cost when their constituents purchase insurance plans," he said.
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