Healthcare Options For Students At Lynn
By Kendall Steiger
Staff Writer
To many, healthcare is a complex system, filled with large descriptive words, policies, and ideas. With the fiscal year recently passing, Republicans were unsuccessful in repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act like they had hoped. With all this talk about health care, it is important to understand how health care affects students on the Lynn campus.
Lynn offers a health insurance plan for those who need the extra help when it comes to medical or doctoral procedures.
“The best part about the Lynn healthcare is being able to see the Lynn nurse at any time I need,” said Paige Gilson, senior. “It also allows for me to have access to many doctors who accept the insurance around the Boca area.”
The Lynn Student Health Insurance plan (or SHIP) is a health insurance plan overseen by Atlanta International Insurance Co. The plan provided includes coverage at school and at home, coverage for emergency and non-emergency services and access to a health insurance provider called Cigna PPO.
The plan includes a $100 deductible, and the out-of-pocket maximum for a student to ever pay is $6,350. More benefits include low copays on prescription drugs, emergency room expenses, X-ray scans and physician office visits.
Lynn healthcare is not mandatory at Lynn, however, some form of health insurance is required. Before arriving to Lynn, students are required to provide proof of insurance to the school.
If they cannot provide the appropriate documents, Lynn officials will automatically enroll them in the school’s health insurance and will add the cost to their total financial bill. If included, this adds $1,297 per year onto the total Lynn financial balance.
“Even though I needed to utilize the Lynn healthcare, it still startled me when I saw them add the balance onto my bill,” said Tuquane Stevens, sophomore. “Honestly I’m glad though, it made my life easier knowing I was protected.”
Some people have their own insurance from home and therefore don’t need to add Lynn health insurance to their bill. “I have my own insurance, so I didn’t need to use the school’s,” said Emily Paz, senior. “It is nice that I can use the health center regardless though. It makes life easier knowing someone can help me if I need it.”
In order to waive the insurance coverage, students must visit www.studentinsurance.com and follow a series of steps. The annual deadline to waive the Lynn health insurance plan is Sept. 1.
In a time where health insurance policies are frequently fought over, it is a nice crutch that Lynn provides its own option for students to stay protected in the event of an emergency.
