Cornell Health
With COVID Patients a Priority, Students Struggle to Find Cornell Health Appointments
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Some students with non-COVID medical concerns struggle to get care as the university prioritizes pandemic control.
Science
Prof. Sean Nicholson Unpacks Health Care Aid in $1.9 Trillion COVID Relief Bill
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The $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill signed into law on March 11 is offering lowered health insurance premiums — the monthly payments associated with insurance plans — for as many as 29 million Americans, drastically relieving the burden of medical costs.
common council
Common Council Approves Emergency Furloughs, Hiring Freezes and Adjustments to Health Insurance for City Employees
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The Ithaca Common Council passed several resolutions regarding furloughs and health insurance for city workers — and also discussed a potential $13 million budget deficit.
Columns
GUEST ROOM | Changes in Cornell’s Health Insurance Requirement Warrant a Warning
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Current full-time students at Cornell must be enrolled in a health insurance plan that provides in-network coverage at the Cayuga Medical Center, which is the only hospital in Ithaca. However, Cornell’s Student Health Benefits Advisory Committee determined that beginning on May 1, 2019, full-time students may satisfy health insurance coverage with a plan that does not include CMC as an in-network provider. One of the main reasons for this change is that over 20 percent of Cornell students have coverage offered by UnitedHealthcare, which does not work with CMC as an in-network provider. Instead of requiring thousands of students to change insurance provider to gain access to CMC as an in-network provider, SHBAC is going to “encourage” all full-time students to have in-network coverage at CMC, according to the Student Health Benefits website. The new health insurance requirement is controversial because there is no obvious solution.
Editorials
EDITORIAL: Closing the Student Health Plan Affordability Gap
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If you go to Cornell, you either have a health insurance plan or you are a clever rulebreaker. If your parents didn’t shell out for eligible private insurance, then you’re likely on the University’s Student Health Plan, which is comprehensive and student-tailored. Students with lower incomes can enroll in a related plan, called SHP+, free of charge. So for most, enrolling in a health plan is but a matter of setting and forgetting. But not for everyone.
Student Health Plan
University Updates Requirements to Waive Student Health Plan
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Students who wish to waive the University-mandated Student Health Plan insurance for the 2019-2020 academic year must have a minimum out-of-network coverage of 60 percent, according to the new requirements, a 10 percent decrease from last year’s waiver requirements.
Student Health Plan
Estimated 2000 Additional Students Were Initially Denied Option to Waive Student Health Plan this Year
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The increase in initial denials is attributed to a change in the process which reviews waiver applications.
affordable health care act
Affordable Care Act Provisions that Went Beyond Healthcare ‘unseen by the public eye,’ Professor Says
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The staple of Barack Obama’s 2008 election platform was healthcare reform. However, soon after the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was signed into law, a majority of the American public supported its repeal. What happened? A landmark piece of legislation, many argue that the ACA brought the U.S. substantially closer to having a comprehensive healthcare system, an objective already accomplished by most high-income countries and one placed on many agendas since the Truman administration. Yet, as Prof. Suzanne Mettler, government, notes in her book, The Submerged State: How Invisible Government Policies Undermine American Democracy, the ACA’s accomplishments went largely unnoticed by the American public, and despite the successful expansion of health insurance coverage to millions of Americans, Democrats in Congress suffered great losses in the 2010 midterm elections following the ACA’s enactment.
Uncategorized
Aetna Found Underpaying Claims
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Aetna, the company with which Cornell contracts for student health insurance, will reimburse both active and former Cornell students more than $155,000 in faulty health insurance claims, University officials said yesterday. This sum represents only a portion of the more than $5 million in claims that the company will pay to over 73,000 students at over 200 colleges nationwide as part of an agreement announced Tuesday by New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.
Between 1998 and April 1, 2008, Aetna Student Health mishandled 4,114 insurance claims filed by 1,626 Cornell students, according to University Press Relations Officer Joe Schwartz. During this period, the company reimbursed students for less money than they were entitled to, Cuomo’s office said in a statement.
Uncategorized
Cuomo Subpoenas C.U. in Health Insurance Inquiry
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This month, the University was issued a subpoena by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo as part of a broader investigation of relationships between the colleges and the health insurance companies that cover students.
In addition to Cornell, Columbia, Georgetown, Sarah Lawrence College and several State University of New York campuses received subpoenas and document requests.
According to The New York Times, the investigation is focused on “the adequacy of disclosure of policy terms and costs to students” and also whether colleges receive any “improper payments” in exchange for requiring students to use a particular insurer.