With health care costs climbing higher every day, it is becoming increasingly important for students to have some kind of health insurance throughout their college career. At Creighton University, students have two options for health care coverage. The first is Creighton’s Health Insurance plan, a university-sponsored insurance plan in which all students are automatically enrolled annually. If they choose to waive this insurance plan, students can get an insurance plan from an outside company, usually the same one used by their parents.
Between 1,300 and 1,500 students are currently enrolled in the Creighton Health Insurance plan. This plan is comprehensive and provides coverage for inpatient and outpatient care not only on campus, but all over the world. Most students on the plan are graduate or professional students who are financially independent. Others are undergraduate students whose parents’ plans do not include comprehensive coverage far away from home.
While Creighton’s Health Insurance plan has a higher premium—or monthly cost—than most other plans, it offers excellent coverage for issues that affect specifically college-age students. For example, many outside insurance plans do not cover medical care for athletic injuries. Creighton’s insurance plan, however, does cover this, along with on-campus mental health care and other forms of medical care. In addition, Creighton’s plan offers a lower deductible—or money paid out-of-pocket for health care—than do other plans. In reality, the lower deductible and the higher premium are a good trade-off in the pricing of Creighton’s Health Insurance plan, but it has the downside of making the program seem more expensive than it really is.
“I think that insurance coverage is complicated, and some students just look at the cost of the plan. If you only look at premium and not at the benefits, you are doing yourself a disservice,” said Deb Saure, Director of Health Services. While the program may seem expensive, it is important to look at the plan’s benefits, coverage and exclusions – or health care that is not covered – alongside the overall cost.
Many Creighton students, however, still choose a health insurance plan offered by an outside company. Nebraska BlueCross BlueShield, United Health Care, Coventry and ETNA are the most common companies that cover Creighton students. In many cases, the student is covered under his or her parents’ insurance plan. For most insurance companies, young adults between the ages of 19-25 are allowed coverage on their parent’s insurance provided that they are full-time students. Some students can be covered in the same way even after the age of 25, although this requires a special provision made by the company that provides their insurance.
“We use BlueCross BlueShield because we already had health insurance with them,” said Virginia Frei, parent of a Creighton student. “It just seemed like the cheaper option.”
Indeed, many other parents feel the same way about finding coverage for students. Although every student is automatically enrolled in Creighton’s program each year, many choose to waive this insurance and stick with the plan they used previously.
Regardless of which insurance plan you choose to enroll under, there are many resources on campus that are available to students. For example, the Center of Health and Counseling is located in the Harper Center and is open to all students.