Boz
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
123 Fireballs!
Posts: 10,355
|
Post by Boz on Apr 3, 2012 17:42:01 GMT -5
If you are getting reimbursed, doesn't that mean that your student health insurance IS, in fact, covering this?
If I am misunderstanding, let me know.
Seems like your problem is one of plan policy/quality, not of philosophy.
But I've got some bad news for you. When you get out of school and get on an employer health plan, or on your own health insurance, all of your costs are not going to be covered. You'll be lucky if a major shot/inoculation/whatever only costs you $10. Frickin' flu shots cost more than that.
Also, with respect to your statement "$200 for something that could potentially save my life." To my way of thinking, that's not a shabby deal.
|
|
bmartin
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 2,459
|
Post by bmartin on Apr 3, 2012 18:29:39 GMT -5
Actually the HPV and other prevention measures usually have no copay because all the doctors and all the insurers and all the employers that offer health benefits want people to follow the medical recommendations rather than risk cancer or other serious medical problems because they dont want to or can't pay the copays. It is in the insurers interests to make it easy for beneficiaries to get the vaccine.
|
|
|
Post by hoyawatcher on Apr 3, 2012 18:41:32 GMT -5
Insurance should pay for the vaccine. It is good business for them and for the patient it is what they should get.
If I understood the post correctly, the co-pay is for the doctor visit. I don't think many plans waive the office co-pay for vaccine visits. Mind doesn't for flu. HPV or other vaccines.
|
|
TC
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 9,450
|
Post by TC on Apr 3, 2012 19:04:35 GMT -5
Insurance should pay for the vaccine. It is good business for them and for the patient it is what they should get. If I understood the post correctly, the co-pay is for the doctor visit. I don't think many plans waive the office co-pay for vaccine visits. Mind doesn't for flu. HPV or other vaccines. Right, but I don't think she's complaining about the initial co-pay, but the differential between the cost and what insurance covers, and the ridiculous hoop jumping between pharmacy and health center that results in extra co-pays. The hoop jumping here is the kind of stupid crap in the system that raises costs. My insurance comes to my work every year to give me a free flu-shot - I don't do anything special or important that demands this sort of treatment - they and my employer want to cut down on worker absences and doctors visits because it is in their financial interest. If it didn't, my doctor certainly wouldn't see me, charge me a co-pay, and then send me to the pharmacy to pick up the flu vaccine and then make me come back and pay a second co-pay to actually get the first cycle.
|
|
EasyEd
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 7,272
|
Post by EasyEd on Apr 3, 2012 19:25:15 GMT -5
No insurance gives you something free. Someone pays for it with their premiums. There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.
|
|
HoyaNyr320
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,233
|
Post by HoyaNyr320 on Apr 3, 2012 19:32:52 GMT -5
No insurance gives you something free. Someone pays for it with their premiums. There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. You're right, someone does "pay" for the vaccine - its the oncology clinics and chemotherapy drug suppliers that the insurance company doesn't have to pay because of the cancer that's being prevented. Vaccines and preventative screening save money and lives - its a win-win.
|
|
|
Post by hoyawatcher on Apr 3, 2012 19:57:56 GMT -5
Insurance should pay for the vaccine. It is good business for them and for the patient it is what they should get. If I understood the post correctly, the co-pay is for the doctor visit. I don't think many plans waive the office co-pay for vaccine visits. Mind doesn't for flu. HPV or other vaccines. Right, but I don't think she's complaining about the initial co-pay, but the differential between the cost and what insurance covers, and the ridiculous hoop jumping between pharmacy and health center that results in extra co-pays. The hoop jumping here is the kind of stupid crap in the system that raises costs. My insurance comes to my work every year to give me a free flu-shot - I don't do anything special or important that demands this sort of treatment - they and my employer want to cut down on worker absences and doctors visits because it is in their financial interest. If it didn't, my doctor certainly wouldn't see me, charge me a co-pay, and then send me to the pharmacy to pick up the flu vaccine and then make me come back and pay a second co-pay to actually get the first cycle. As far as I can tell the insurance had nothing to do with mulitple doc visits being required. That is a provider issue - not an insurance issue. As for the flu shot, I would suspect your company paid for the office flu shot under a corporate wellness program. All great. But I don't think any push it much further than that to get into HPV, pneumonia, polio or any of the other myriad of vaccines out there. They expect you to go to the office and consult a physician to make sure it is appropriate - and pay the co-pay.
|
|
TBird41
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
"Roy! I Love All 7'2" of you Roy!"
Posts: 8,740
|
Post by TBird41 on Apr 3, 2012 20:04:00 GMT -5
Something people should remember before assuming that problems that occur at Georgetown also occur in the rest of the country, is that if the rest of the country was run as well as Georgetown is, there wouldn't even be aircraft carriers for the basketball team to decide not to play on.
|
|
TC
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 9,450
|
Post by TC on Apr 3, 2012 21:25:48 GMT -5
As far as I can tell the insurance had nothing to do with mulitple doc visits being required. That is a provider issue - not an insurance issue. True, but let's be honest here - since she's talking about Student Health, it is Georgetown who is the provider also - as well as the entity writing the insurance plan. In a normal situation there's a separation of concerns there between provider and employer, but not in her situation. Oh, I agree, my point was more responding to Boz's post that things get harder when you get out of school and people make you pay for flu shots. I don't think that's true. Navigating the health system professionally is a lot easier than trying to figure out Georgetown's ridiculously byzantine setup.
|
|
|
Post by LizziebethHoya on Apr 3, 2012 21:32:45 GMT -5
I have been in the real world - on 2 different corporate plans, actually. I took time off before going back to graduate school.
During my years "in the real world," I had some health problems, and my bills were extremely reasonable. During my 1 year at GULC that I was on my parent's plan, my bills were extremely reasonable. During the last 6 months I have had to be on Georgetown's Student Insurance, I have had nothing wrong with me and have paid over $500 OUT OF POCKET for preventative/standard care.
My problem is this: Georgetown student insurance pays for many vaccines that are preventative. No co-pays on those. I'm fine with paying for office visit co-pays (although silly me assumed that the student health center would be cheaper than any other doctor I could go to). However, because I'm a female, it is recommended that I get this series of vaccines (I should have gotten them earlier, but that's besides the point). The fact that I have to pay $200 for something most EVERY OTHER INSURANCE covers for much less (if not for free) is absolutely absurd. Luckily, I CAN scrounge together the extra $200. That cost for others, will be prohibitive.
Women's preventative health matters, but Georgetown puts it on the back burner. Thats the simple fact of the matter.
|
|
|
Post by hoyawatcher on Apr 3, 2012 23:29:34 GMT -5
If it makes you feel any better I have 3 girls in college - 3 different schools including one at Georgetown. None of them use college insurance and all use or at least used my insurance as a much better deal. It isn't just Georgetown. College insurance plans are notoriously bad. They were when I was in Grad school too though that would probably qualify for medieval times.
|
|
|
Post by LizziebethHoya on Apr 3, 2012 23:52:10 GMT -5
Yeah, I expected that it wouldn't be as good as a plan run through an employer. I just didn't know HOW bad. I mean, I can't even get dental insurance as a student at Gtown (other schools contract for dental coverage).
It's really a shame...school is already absurdly expensive. I wish some of my tuition dollars went toward paying for better health insurance plans for students, instead of paying for Georgetown to be able to offer and subsidize 4 different, very generous plans to its employees.
|
|
|
Post by hoyawatcher on Apr 4, 2012 8:43:10 GMT -5
i think fewer and fewer companies are including dental insurance. So don't be suprised if you don't get it coming out of school. Most "cover" it by some sort of pre tax savings plan that you can use pre tax dollars for. That has been my plan for quite a while now.
|
|
|
Post by LizziebethHoya on Apr 4, 2012 8:55:07 GMT -5
Yeah. I only care because its offered to Georgetown employees and my tuition dollars go towards subsidizing it. I'd gladly pay for it if it was offered to me.
|
|
kchoya
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Enter your message here...
Posts: 9,934
|
Post by kchoya on Apr 4, 2012 9:28:38 GMT -5
I have been in the real world - on 2 different corporate plans, actually. I took time off before going back to graduate school. During my years "in the real world," I had some health problems, and my bills were extremely reasonable. During my 1 year at GULC that I was on my parent's plan, my bills were extremely reasonable. During the last 6 months I have had to be on Georgetown's Student Insurance, I have had nothing wrong with me and have paid over $500 OUT OF POCKET for preventative/standard care. My problem is this: Georgetown student insurance pays for many vaccines that are preventative. No co-pays on those. I'm fine with paying for office visit co-pays (although silly me assumed that the student health center would be cheaper than any other doctor I could go to). However, because I'm a female, it is recommended that I get this series of vaccines (I should have gotten them earlier, but that's besides the point). The fact that I have to pay $200 for something most EVERY OTHER INSURANCE covers for much less (if not for free) is absolutely absurd. Luckily, I CAN scrounge together the extra $200. That cost for others, will be prohibitive. Women's preventative health matters, but Georgetown puts it on the back burner. Thats the simple fact of the matter. All of this is over paying $500 for out of pocket medical costs and having to make a couple of trips to the doctor? Consider yourself lucky. There's a pretty long thread on the main board that will help put these medical issues in to proper persepctive.
|
|
|
Post by LizziebethHoya on Apr 4, 2012 9:40:02 GMT -5
But if I was an employee for Georgetown, I would be paying close to nothing. If I was a student at another university, I would be paying a LOT less.
I'm not complaining about having to pay around $3000 (plus 7-9% interest on my student loans per year), but I'm saying its not right.
Additionally, this situation is in NO way comparable to Elvados. I never intended it to be so and I am quite frankly extremely offended you brought that up (it is the most objectionable of all of your comments). This is a discussion about insurance coverage, and how Georgetown's insurance for STUDENTS is inadequate.
|
|
DanMcQ
Moderator
Posts: 30,546
Member is Online
|
Post by DanMcQ on Apr 4, 2012 10:08:46 GMT -5
This is not on point, but I just want to point out some of the deficiencies of student health insurance that I pay $2000/year for, as this is a prime example of how Georgetown treats their female students' healthcare needs. As a female, I'm trying to get the HPV vaccine to prevent cervical cancer. This vaccine is recommended for all females age 15-26. To get the prescription, I had to schedule an appointment at the student health center. Doctor spent a total of 3 minutes writing the prescription (although they made me wait for 30 minutes and I missed a bunch of class). The doctor on Mondays doesn't give injections of this recommended shot, so I had to make another appointment to get it injected. Total cost: $10. Then I had to go to the pharmacy to get it filled. The student health insurance doesn't cover it, but will reimburse me up to $135. The total cost was $187 on my credit card. Now I have to go back to student health another time to get the injection. So that will be another $10. Oh, and I have to repeat this process 2 more times, for a grand total of $216 for a vaccine that is recommended for all females. My friend just got this done at her student health center at her law school. 100% covered. My sister got it done at her university. 100% covered. Other friends have gotten this vaccine through their insurance. 100% covered. Georgetown? Over $200 for one vaccine that could potentially save my life. And when one needs birth control for a medical issue that could negatively effect ones life? Forms after forms calls to doctors, faxes from doctors. And even then they dispute the "real reason" that one needs it. This is not just a one-off story. This is a story I've heard multiple times from my peers. It's just not right. lizziebeth: unfortunately, "recommended" vaccines (i.e., those put on the schedule by ACIP) are not universally paid for by many insurers despite the enormous downstream benefit to them of, in the case or HPV vaccine, not having to pay for cases of cervical cancer and its treatment. Speaking from experience, your story is not unlike many other young women and is more insurance company-related than a result of some deficiency in Georgetown's policy or GU student health. I would estimate that about half the women I recommend this vaccine to, with a variety of low- to high-end policies, have to pay for this vaccine out of pocket. That includes differences between policies from the same insurance company. For easyed's age group, only influenza and pneumococcal vaccine are paid for by Medicare despite ample evidence that other vaccines are worthwhile and are recommended by ACIP for all adults.
|
|
hoyainspirit
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
When life puts that voodoo on me, music is my gris-gris.
Posts: 8,393
Member is Online
|
Post by hoyainspirit on Apr 4, 2012 10:17:55 GMT -5
Seems to me, it's still not right, since they pay for the coverage for employees. Students, in general, have far less money to spend for these things, since they usually do not have a job. Why screw the students?
|
|
DanMcQ
Moderator
Posts: 30,546
Member is Online
|
Post by DanMcQ on Apr 4, 2012 11:10:17 GMT -5
It's inevitable that, in the effort to make policies affordable to different constituencies, tradeoffs get made. I'd wager that most students, like most young adults, don't use their policies much and thus lower premiums encourage more participation. In order to charge lower premiums, certain things don't get covered - and that is no different regardless of the policy. I doubt the University expressly said "let's not cover HPV vaccine it costs too much" - more likely they decided on a student coverage policy they felt was affordable to them and would attract the most students. That policy obviously doesn't cover this vaccine. Lizzibeth: you should let them (the insurer and GU) know of your dissatisfaction in the lack of coverage. Things won't change unless they hear from people.
Also, FYI the HPV vaccine is approved (and recommended) for males in the same age group. I'd wager there is even less insurance coverage for that.
|
|
TBird41
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
"Roy! I Love All 7'2" of you Roy!"
Posts: 8,740
|
Post by TBird41 on Apr 4, 2012 11:29:20 GMT -5
Another thing to think about--preventive medicine isn't necessarily a cost savings. It depends on a lot of different factors. If you cover a vaccine for everyone, does the cost of providing that vaccine for free outweigh the cost of treating the disease in the people that 1) won't get the vaccine unless its free and 2) get the disease?
And "cost" can include more than the straight cost to still run into the problem of the preventive medicine costing more than treating the disease itself.
The complexity of these trade offs is why we should definitely leave them up to skilled decision makers like Georgetown and the Federal Government and ask them to make the decisions for large, dissimilar groups of people.
|
|