SHS reveals improved health plan

The new student health insurance plan offers better rates and covers more preventive care measures. The new student health insurance plan offers better rates and covers more preventive care measures.Shannon BurkeThe new student health insurance plan offers better rates and covers more preventive care measures.Shannon BurkeThe Summer Pennsylvanian The new plan -- which it is estimated that over 5,000 students will choose -- is expected to save a total of $837,772 over last year's student health insurance plan provided by Mega Life. The average savings per member per month is 13 percent. Vice Provost for Graduate Education Janice Madden said that under the new plan, University students pay half as much for health insurance as students at most other institutions. She added that the plan includes decreases not only in single student rates but also student and child, student and spouse and family rates which affect many graduate students. Through an arrangement known as point-of-service, the plan gives students the option of receiving all of their services with in the University of Pennsylvania Health System. If students choose to receive care outside UPHS, the plan covers 80 percent of medically necessary services after they meet a $250 deductible. Free primary care is provided by Student Health with no charges for on-site laboratory sites and only minimal copayments for prescriptions and specialty care. If students choose a primary-care provider who is not in Student Health but is part of UPHS, there is a $10 copayment per visit. Covered services include physical exams, baby care, immunizations and routine eye care. The new plan also features improved prescription benefits, a dental care option and a fitness plan reimbursement. The benefits for students seeking mental health care within UPHS have also been extended include more than 300 providers in the Penn Friends Behavioral Health Services behavioral health group of UPHS. "We were able to expand benefits while saving almost a million dollars for students," Vice Provost for Undergraduate Life Valarie Swain-Cade McCoullum said. "Students requested changes and a lot of people worked very hard to improve the quality of health coverage." Madden said she is pleased with the plan that emerged from over a year of negotiations. "I think the new plan will save our students a tremendous amount of money, and what they do pay will cover much more routine preventive care," she said. And SHS Director MarJeanne Collins said the new plan gives students a greater range of health care options. "It offers choices for the first time, and choice is an important thing," Collins said. "Students won't have all of the out of pocket expenses associated with Mega if they stay within the network." All students who do not have comparable health insurance coverage through the policies of their parents or spouses are required to sign up for the University's plan. An information on the new student health insurance will be mailed to all full-time students this month.