Joanna Cabrera opened her mailbox in Boston to find a letter from Syracuse University less than a month away from the beginning of her freshman year.

It was neither about her roommate assignment nor a brochure about orientation. Rather it was a bill for $2,230 — and the letter said the university had rejected her health insurance and that Cabrera would have to buy insurance from SU to enroll.

“Had I known, I probably would have gone to a state school where my health insurance applied,” Cabrera said.

Now a sophomore, Cabrera is one of the 5,587 students on the SU Health Insurance Plan as a result of being compliant with the Affordable Care Act that require all incoming students have a U.S.-based health insurance plan. Under the mandate, which was announced two years ago this month, students must provide documentation of qualifying insurance coverage to the university or they will be automatically enrolled on the university’s health insurance plan, said Kathleen Coughlin, associate director of health services.

This requirement — which expanded to all full-time students this year — has created confusion among some in the SU community. This is partly because more than 800 SU students were forced on to the university’s plan despite already paying for private insurance, and the university insists its insurance broker rejected some private insurance inappropriately.

The university was prompted to create an insurance program after seeing uninsured students take leaves of absence due to large medical bills from unexpected illnesses and accidents, Coughlin said.

“I understand the upfront costs can seem so high, but the reason you have insurance is because of something that you don’t expect to happen,” she said.

SU’s insurance premium is proportionate to the rates at other universities, where plans range from $2,000 to $2,400 per year, and insurance through the free market would cost much more, Coughlin said.

SU has contracted the Aetna insurance provider, and students on the plan are covered in the Syracuse area and have access to services like physical therapy, mental health resources and drug rehabilitation, among other things.

The plan also covers worldwide evacuation, which allows family members to retrieve a sick or injured student from out of the country and bring them back to the states without paying a fee, which is a key benefit for international students, Coughlin said.

Many international students previously purchased traveler’s insurance while studying in the United States, but now choose to be on the university’s plan to receive access to immunizations that are not available or are more expensive in their home country, Coughlin said.

But for the 866 students like Cabrera whose health insurance waivers were denied last year, being forced to pay for two plans raises concern. Cabrera currently has insurance through both her local provider and the university.

“I felt gypped,” Cabrera said. “… Financially, it just takes a lot out of me.”

The university offers additional financial aid for students who cannot afford the plan. Students must fill out and submit an aid request form to the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarship in addition to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Yet, Cabrera said she was not aware of the aid offered and believes there is a lack of communication between the Student Health Insurance Office and students.

SU, with the help of an insurance broker, previously mailed a full explanation of benefits to students, which Cabrera said she found confusing. The university is currently developing materials that provide an easy, clear comparison of prices and covered services for the upcoming academic year, Coughlin said.

Complex paperwork was not the only complication with the recent requirement. SU worked with an insurance broker, which Coughlin declined to name, to review the submitted health insurance plans. Through an automated process, the broker wrongly denied plans that did not cover routine medical services, like physical examinations, in the Syracuse area, Coughlin said. The university has since switched brokers, and Coughlin hopes for a smoother process for the upcoming academic year, she said.

Though Coughlin said she thinks 90 percent of submitted plans for last year were accepted, she said she estimates more than 100 students’ original rejections were rescinded due to the broker’s mishandling.

Despite possible changes to the waiver system, the requirement faces opposition.

Stephanie Cox, a senior studying entrepreneurship and marketing, has remained on her parents’ insurance plan throughout college, but believes the mandate impedes on students’ freedom to choose the amount of coverage that is best for them, she said.

“I’d rather have the opportunity to choose my own way instead of somebody saying, ‘This is what you have to do because it’s better for you, because I told you so,’” Cox said.

Though the future of federal mandated health insurance remains hazy, Coughlin said SU is embracing the “new normal for universities everywhere.”

“It has been very easy, politics aside, to have this type of requirement, which is why so many schools do,” Coughlin said.

Published on March 26, 2017 at 8:56 pm

Contact Megan: mfalk100@syr.edu