UChicago not accepting waiver for USHIP

Dsnconfucius
Fri, 31 Oct 2014 21:18:51 +0000

Hello,
Looking for some input from folks who have been in this situation.
My student has coverage for emergency and urgent care including ambulance services through my employment insurance. This is a HMO policy and care in Chicago would be out of network coverage with higher co-pays for us which we are of course OK with and a phone call from us (parent or student) to the insurance provider/primary physician in network within 48 hours of needing urgent or emergency care.
Routine care will not be provided for which we see no need
We did not see a problem in not using USHIP for routine care as this can be done when the student comes home.
UChicago however is insisting on student health insurance policy . The University’s stand is that we do not meet criteria for comparable insurance per their audit of our waiver request because our insurance provider will not provide routine care in the Chicago area and a phone call for pre-auth is necessary for emergency care/urgent care . Our insurance provider reports that they will cover emergency and urgent care for the student and the only thing they will not cover is routine and follow up care and the pre-authorization is merely a phone call. They are willing to clarify their side with the University . We tried to clarify this issue with the University but to no avail.

Since a lot of students may need out of network coverage, is the expectation that students/parents take 2 insurance policies simultaneously - a new one for the Chicago area in addition to existing local area coverage for times when the student comes home? Is any body else bothered by the wasteful nature of this exercise or is there something obvious that I am missing.What is the right thing to do?