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Editor:
Michelle Jones' coverage of the Campus Health Partners ("Campus insurance one option for students," Aug. 30) was informative as to the benefits of the health coverage available for students here at the university. A flaw in the comparison with individual coverage available to students is that "The maximum benefit payable on a lifetime basis for each illness or injury is $50,000" under the campus plan.
Such a low ceiling does not constitute insurance. The campus health insurance does a good job in caring for an individual's health involving minor illness or injury. Health Partners is aligned with many of the best Tucson hospitals and doctors. But the plan is really health-care coverage, not insurance. By definition insurance protects your finances, not your health.
Sometimes your health will become worse. The campus plan does not really protect against the financial duress a serious injury or illness causes. Such conditions will easily push a patient's medical bills beyond the $50,000 limit. Just ask any health professional if $50,000 would get you through a serious injury or illness. Their general response will be laughter.
When illness or injury does max out your insurance, what then? I must rely on my own experience to explain the consequences of maxing out coverage. I have hit my limit twice here at the UA due to a change in carriers of the university's health plan. The first time I went on AHCCCS, and the second time I accrued a large amount of debt rapidly. Neither ride is a bowl of cherries. Eligibility for AHCCCS means absolute poverty for yourself, with an annualized income less than $3,600. In addition to poverty, you are shifted over to a new list of doctors.
Imagine being in the hospital and being shifted between doctors; so much for continuity. Maxing out and paying the bills yourself really isn't an option either. Some doctors won't charge. This means they make up for your lost income by charging everybody else more. Other doctors or labs will charge you a cut-rate which has the same effect on other peoples' expenses.
My recommendation to students would be to contact the individual Health Management Organizations in town and get coverage through them. The maximum coverage will generally be $500,000 to $1,000,000. As for myself and others with pre-existing conditions, we will stay with the Campus Health Plan since we have no choice. We would have to lie, cheat or steal to get any other coverage. By the way, the maximum available on the Campus Health Plan does not compare well with other universities. Other schools offer students benefits from simple plans to $250,000 or $500,000 insurance. Now $250,000 or $500,000 is more like it in this age of expensive health care.
Tom Meixner
graduate student, Department of Hydrology and Water Resources
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