When students are unable to pay the initial SHIP fee or co-pays, they are told to visit the Office of Financial Aid and Student Employment. Although it is required that all students participate in either SHIP or a comparable private insurance policy, the Office of Financial Aid does not consider health insurance a mandatory fee and, therefore, is not responsible for funding it.
“It is not a required fee for all students, so it’s not included in the standard budget. We don’t have the resources to include that,” said Thomas Keane, director of financial aid for scholarships and policy analysis.
He said it is assumed that most students can be included on their parents’ plans throughout their undergraduate careers. If a student is having significant trouble covering medical fees, however, the Office of Financial Aid offers a “budget increase” to the standard package. That increase is given as a loan or work supplement, not as a grant.
The Office of Financial Aid does offer some straightforward funding for its most financially at-risk students. At the beginning of the year, Keane said, it contacted a group of the lowest-income students and offered to cover a limited number of co-pays for them.
In order for students to avoid paying for SHIP, they must prove before each academic year begins that they are enrolled in another insurance plan. A short waiver form, asking for the insurer’s contact information and benefits, must be completed.
Molnar said the Office of Student Health Insurance audits the waiver forms and calls insurance companies to confirm coverage. It sends a checklist telling families what should be covered for students going away to college.
Keane, however, said it would be very difficult to confirm the validity of every single waiver form. “They don’t check everybody. They don’t check it out personally,” he said.
Students who claim to be covered, either because they are uninformed or because they do not want to pay the SHIP fee, can have significant problems paying their bills if they do need medical help. Out-of-pocket costs for mental health visits at private practices, for example, are often more than $100, according to Gannett’s website.
Lariar was a member of the Non-Mandatory Student Fee Review, a committee that assessed the extra charges many students pay at Cornell. Health insurance was an issue covered in committee, and recommendations were brought to the administration at the end of last year.
Josh Katcher ’06, a student-elected trustee and another member of the review committee, said the administration released a formal response to its report last week. Katcher said he felt “cautious optimism” as the University said it would continue reviewing fee policies.
Two programs that are available for students who need immediate and significant assistance with medical costs are the Emergency Medical Expenses Endowment and Students Helping Students. The endowment, which consists of $15,000-$20,000 per year, is used to pay hospital bills if insurance cannot cover the full cost. That number is the total amount available, not the amount per student.
Students Helping Students, of which Lariar is chair, is another emergency fund for students with serious financial crises. Funded by one dollar of each student’s Student Activity Fee, the fund gives anonymous grants. About half of the requests they deal with are medical emergencies referred from the Office of Financial Aid, Keane said. Grants are capped at $1,000.
“If people need it, they need to know it exists,” Lariar said of emergency funding for medical issues. Students Helping Students received 40 requests for funds last year, which was a significant increase from previous years, Lariar said.
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