The health service fee is probably for their on campus clinics. Your son would be able to go there for colds and flu and other doctor visits that don’t require a hospital. The insurance would be to cover more extensive medical care (although often the school clinics bill the insurer too!)
When my daughter was in school there was a health clinic and she went there for strep tests, when she had the flu, and even for some vaccinations. The clinic would bill her medical insurance and she’d get a co-pay bill for a few dollars. I don’t know if there was a separate fee for the clinic, but her student fees in total were only $325 per semester, so if there was a fee for the clinic, it was minimal.
$1150 seems like a lot, but Philly is a high cost area. Daughter’s insurance offered by the college was something like $2000 her first year, but they rebated her $600 because the claims were less than expected (not just for her but for all members of the policy) so the next year the cost went to about $1200 per year, and she still got a rebate of about $50.
But as I said, insurance is a state regulated industry, and some states have a lot more requirements and charge more. Anything in the northeast US is going to be more expensive than in the midwest and south.
I gave the example of the $20k in ER charges just to show you how quickly the bill can add up. My daughter hasn’t resolved it yet because she doesn’t think it is important. She’s home for the holiday weekend, so I’ll nag her about getting it done.
“As an international student, he will not be able to purchase off the ACA exchanges, I don’t think.”
I don’t believe this is correct:
“Immigrants with the following statuses qualify to use the Marketplace:
…
Individual with Non-immigrant Status, includes worker visas (such as H1, H-2A, H-2B), student visas, U-visa, T-visa, and other visas, and citizens of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau”
Right, but they’d still have to be an immigrant. I don’t think everyone with a student visa is an immigrant. Also, there is no subsidy if the family makes too much or too little. If the ‘family’ is just the student, this student would have no income so would have to either get Medicaid (which he definitely wouldn’t qualify for) or pay full price off the exchange. That’s going to be more expensive than the school policy.
No, it stated explicitly “non immigrant status”- students aren’t immigrants.
Anyway the insurance that covers campus clinic visit is necessary + insurance for catastrophic illness’ humongous costs.
Also check something called side2side, it’s for expats and beside making a compelling case that Plain States are interesting to visit, there’s advice on “how to eat well in the US” and “health plans in the US” for people who are used to the European systems (where guaranteed but mandatory national pools guarantee the lowest prices, unlike in the US where none of these words apply depending on where you live, your employer/college, income level… it’s mind-boggling for Europeans… and complicated for Americans.)