<p>Soo…
After comparing prices, travel times etc…and fees…The Ct Limo was going to take 3 hrs to Newark… and close to $100 vs the train at 2 hrs and approx $50… Flts from Newark were cheapest.</p>
<p>Also compared BDL, LGA and JFK etc…</p>
<p>Gave K1 the choice and we are rolling the dice on Tweed…there is a 2 hr layover in PHL yet if K1 makes the connection, k1 will be in town 1 hr sooner than the Newark flt/connection …and leaves Tweed 2 hrs later than the Amtrak…<br>
For those 3 hrs not traveling we are paying about 45$ more. </p>
<p>Hope springs eternal.
Thanks for the input–we will ask K1 to drag the bag etc to the Omni and grab a cab there or in-route.</p>
<p>I wanted to share new insights on how the Yale Health Plan works for those who keep their kids on their insurance and “waive” coverage for specialty care and prescriptions. I had DS go in for a vaccination and the YHP put the charge right on the bursar bill even though they had the coverage information. I called back to get it submitted anyway and I finally requested a claim form which I submitted myself. BC/BS was unable to process the HCFA 1500 form (very standard) submitted by me. When it was finally processed I was told that it was processed as an out-of-network BC/BS claim (ie. they don’t participate with BC/BS which astounded me). Apparently the Yale Health Plan is a staff model HMO. Although they have some HMO docs as specialists, your commercial health plan will not cover them at all or as well. If you waive insurance and your kid needs as eye doctor visit, an x-ray, or an allergy shot, you really want them seen by a non-YHP doc or over at Yale New Haven hospital. I never would have guessed that the YHP did not have a provider agreement with some of the largest insurers. Thank goodness my kid is healthy since this has been a big hassle. I can only imagine if you dropped your kid off your insurance and took the YHP HMO policy, it would be a worse nightmare to get out of network coverage back at home.</p>
<p>@YaleGradandDad, we knew our HMO would not cover my son at Yale Health but it would at New Haven hospital as well (Aetna). There are many providers in the general area that do though. That’s why I used Doc Find (I’m sure BC/BS has something similar) before deciding on declining the Yale coverage.</p>
<p>YaleGradanddad, that’s interesting. We also waived (we are in BC/BS in NY) So far, my daughter has not had any trouble at all at Yale Health (she got stitches a few weeks ago, and got a flu shot earlier), but maybe the system wasn’t really tested, as those may have been normal things that are covered for all students. I would have thought a vaccination would fall into that same category though. But I agree, she sees some specialty doctors at home once a year and I didn’t want to deal with the other half of the coverage issue by using Yale’s (not to mention it saves us lots of money to keep her on our own plan).</p>
<p>We waived the insurance but there are things the students can get done. My daughter has gone for, flu, migraine, etc. and that was fine. They had flu shots that were covered also I think. There are many doctors nearby, you don’t always have to go to YNHH, but that is also close.
Anyone who works at Yale has to see doctor’s at the Yale Health Plan or go out of network and pay. When I worked at a local doctor’s office, we would get them on occasion because they didn’t like the particular doctor they had to see, but it is inclusive.</p>
<p>Hmmm interesting. I guess I need to have DH check our bills etc.</p>
<p>Our student is on the Yale plan…
did a flu shot
and also has been seen for flu.
Was seen for sun poisoning/burn/sun illness (pain meds)…(during the spring break when the team was out all day every day for 2 weeks in sunny cold weather–k1 got fried!)
and also for a sports team related injury (ultrasound, PT, pain meds) etc</p>
<p>We kept k1 on our family plan (Humana) as well-- just in case something in the larger hospital network needed to be done. </p>
<p>The whole insurance thing is so confusing and while it is costly to keep k1 on both plans, we hoped it meant that k1 would have some sort of coverage no matter where medical treatment was received.</p>
<p>Its interesting that they covered the flu shots because they did not do so for Gardasil. After hearing about the campus social scene, I thought it worthwhile even for a son. Although it is more widely used on girls and there may be different financial coverage for them, the data is pretty strong to protect our sons including a CDC advisory recommendation. So much for the “health maintenance organization” part of YHP.</p>
<p>We have not had good experiences with Yale Health. We also had waived the insurance, and mistakenly thought that Yale would just bill our insurance then. However, what happens is that my son is kind of given a ‘onceover’ quick appointment and then basically left in the lurch to find a doctor outside of Yale to help him. When he had a serious medical problem going on, he couldn’t get any assistance. I finally had to go online and search the New Haven area for a doctor who would take him–very time-consuming and frustrating. I did call Yale Health, but got the runaround, and did voice my complaints. Finally after I was able to get my son an appointment with an outside physician (to which he needed to take a taxi) a customer service person from Yale Health left me a message saying that they were sorry for what had happened and that they would be glad to help us find someone. Too little, too late…Seems like every experience we have had with them has not been very satisfactory.</p>
<p>This is all very interesting as we think about what to sign up for and so forth. Thanks for sharing.
Wish it were better news, though.
One thing I can say is that I am STILL relatively happy about the health care situation at Yale for D2. D1 is at a LAC- the Campus Health Center is pathetic, and the local town’s health care is poor, too. It has been a BIG and SCARY disappointment.</p>
<p>Popping in to say that …ok so rolling the dice on flying out of Tweed has been a bad choice…
just got email/calls from airline that k1’s flt today is CANCELLED…
sooo hopefully airline takes care of k1 and we have a homecoming this evening as planned…
I have no clue what they will do…</p>
<p>GRRRRR
grrrr. Sooo K1s flt home was CANCELLED today as I mentioned…
Was supposed to fly out of New Haven…
airlone did re-route through Hartford.
The airline was supposed to give k1 a voucher–which k1 asked for…but nooooo they said it wasn’t their responsibility…</p>
<p>So we called US Air and asked (as k1 was rushing to change airports)
…they said–yes k1 SHOULD have gotten a voucher and put it in the records…that it should have been done the way we expected in New Haven and they would fix it at BDL—and k1 should ask for remedy at BDL…</p>
<p>So K1 asked for reimbusement through supervisor at ticket counter as instructed…and that person denied it…
GRRRR
Hating US Air right now.
$110 cab ride from New Haven to Hartford–and US Air should have paid for it…</p>
<p>This will require complaint letters to US Air.</p>
<p>I avoid US Airways if at all possible. One college visit trip I flew cross-country with them, they were late taking off and then announced mid-flight that they were making an unscheduled stop in Kansas City to fuel up! Of course we arrived late in the evening on the west coast and everyone missed their connections.</p>
<p>Given that the RT limo only costs about $30 more and the flights are often $130 less, it is hard to argue with JFK/LGA. At least if your flight is delayed or cancelled you have nearly hourly flights to many major hubs. As mentioned earlier, DS tried Tweed once and never did so again.</p>
<p>sigh…yes.
So cost of original flt ticket
plus
taxi to Tweed
plus
taxi to BDL
THEN
Flt from PHL delayd more than an hr…</p>
<p>It has been a rough travel day.
I could have had him on Amtrak to Newark
vs Ct Limo to JFK/LGA…</p>
<p>So we will NOT use Tweed again…US Air says that the voucher should have been from airport services at Tweed. K1’s ticket is a contract with USAir from Tweed - home…</p>
<p>Lesson learned.
At least K1 has one bag (lets hope it makes it) and its on the way home during summer…though the delays have been weather related -at least it isn’t snow/sleet and such…over Thanksgiving for example…</p>
<p>A comment on the health coverage issues: Yale Health provides free services towaived students in primary care (including Student Medicine, Sports Medicine for varsity atheletes, pediatrics, gyn, Acute Care, and Mental Health; also nutrition, labs, and the inpatient facility. If you have waived and are looking for specialists, a good place to look would be the Yale Medical Group, based at the hospital. The doctors there are generally quite good, although there may be a lower level of customer service than at a private office. They have a web site listing doctors by specialty, including their areas of interest. You can also go to the Yale Health website and download the coverage handbook there to see exactly what is covered. The site is yalehealth.yale.edu/understand-your-coverage. I agree that it would be inconvenient to use Yale Health as your sole source of coverage year-round unless you are close enough to drive there - they will only cover urgent problems outside of the HMO.</p>
Before DS set his foot on campus, I had learned from CC that taking the tweed route could be risky. A CCer posted that the flight out of or into tweed could be cancelled at the first drop snow, or even when it is too foggy. </p>
<p>Therefore DS has never taken any flight out of tweed. It does not mean that in and out of BDL is completely trouble free. But it is overall more predictable. I think he has had more troubles with land transportation (e.g., ct limo) than the flight in or out of BDL.</p>
<p>It is rumored that US Air is trying to acquire American, which is in bankruptcy right now. I hope this will not happen as a lot of Yalies rely on AA (especially those from a far away state.) (I hate any business that is too big, especially a bank that is too big to fail. Just think of this: One reason why I like Y better than H or S is that the graduate school of Y, and therefore the Yale University as a whole, is not that large.)</p>
<p>Has everyone responded to the Parent survey?
Did that last evening. Had been meaning to get it done and then the “reminder” came so it is completed.
Along with our missing items for fin-aid. Oh the irony.</p>