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New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office recently launched an investigation into health insurance providers for New York college students, but this will most likely not affect Vassar’s student health insurance plan, according to the Director of Health Services Dr. Irena Balawajder.
The attorney general’s office has subpoenaed 10 of the largest student insurers and five insurance brokers. Cuomo also sent a letter to over 300 colleges, professional schools and trade schools cautioning them to “review their sponsored student health insurance plans and alter potential problems that add gratuitous expenses and put students at risk,” according to a press statement on April 8.
The attorney general’s investigation examined the student health insurance plans of 65 different colleges in New York and out-of-state schools attended by New York students. The investigation targeted health insurance plans that, he claimed, “leave students at risk while providing massive profits for insurance companies.”
For instance, according to the April 8 New York Times article on the investigation, the plan for students at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y. has a loss ratio of 49 percent, and the plan at the State University of New York Institute of Technology at Utica had a loss ratio of 28.4 percent. A loss ratio is a figure indicating how much a health insurance plan pays out in relation to its overall cost. A low loss ratio indicates that an insurance policy is overcharging. The plan for students of Pace University in New York City also had a low loss ratio, in addition to which their plan did not cover injuries sustained while intoxicated, according to the Times article.
However, Vassar was not one of the colleges whose health plans were examined by the attorney general. Balawajder said, “We have not been contacted by the attorney general,” to re-examine the student health insurance plan. She added that she “did not at all expect” that Vassar’s plan would be affected by the investigation.
Vassar’s student health insurance plan is offered by the Massachusetts-based student health insurance company Gallagher Kostler. It offers a range of coverage including psychiatric care, and is offered to all Vassar students, who—unless they are international students—may opt out if they already have health insurance.
In contrast to the plans targeted by the Attorney General’s Office, Vassar’s health plan has a high loss ratio of around 70 percent, according to Balawajder. She also cited a number of benefits to the Gallager Kostler plan, including co-pays of only $10 for visits to medical specialists and $50 for comprehensive emergency room visits. Furthermore, the plan comes with a large local network for medical referrals, and students are able to use its coverage outside campus and outside the Poughkeepsie area. Students are covered for injuries that take place while intoxicated, as well as for treatment of drug and alcohol addictions.
Unfortunately, the 70 percent loss ratio may still be too low after the recent federal health care legislation, which requires a minimum loss ratio of 85 percent. “It is not yet clear how the national health insurance legislation covers student health insurance plans, including, among other things, the application of the ‘85 percent target loss ratio’ to these plans,” said Vice President for Finance and Administration Elizabeth Eismeier. “We will of course expect service providers like Gallagher Koster and ACE, the underwriter of the policy, to comply with all of the new regulations as the legislation is clarified by rule-making,” she said.
“Gallagher Kostler is catered to students, so it knows what students need,” said Balawajder. “We’re very happy with the plan,” she added.
