Hi Adam,

Actually - our Health Resources Committee Chair, Luke Simoni, has already done just this - call around to get information from local dentists and compile a database for students. Most, if not all of the dentists listed are ones that have been recommended by other graduate students.

If you click on the "Health Care" tab at right under the navigation menu, you'll find the spreadsheet he has assembled with information from local dentists (or click: http://www.gsu.nd.edu/?q=node/33). It indicates which dentists accept the university dental discount plan - Careington - and has phone #'s, addresses, etc. It does not include specific pricing for each individual dentist, since this can change frequently, can vary if particular dentists offer sliding fees for those who do not have insurance, and most importantly, we don't want to provide incorrect information.

On this page, you will also find information about the Careington Dental Discount program that the University offers to graduate students for an additional fee as well as a similar program for eye exams/glasses.

Do let us know if you have additional suggestions for information we can gather and post on our website. I think you'll find that over the past few months we've added a lot of helpful information to this new site, and we want to continue to make it better.

best,
Rebecca
GSU President

Dental -- group pricing?

Hi-

The plan doesn't cover dental, and I'm not sure it should. BUT it would be nice if someone in GSU could call around to different dentists and get pricing for routine procedures like cleanings and X-rays.

Most grad students haven't been here long, and it doesn't make sense for everyone to have to do their own comparison shopping redundantly. Second, some dentists won't release their fees over the phone if they think you might be a competitor, but I'd think many would want the GSU to send them some new patients. Third, some dentists may recognize that grad students don't have much money and no insurance, so they may offer the GSU a special discount--collective bargaining is what the GSU is for, after all!

I think this is a simple, easy, cheap solution to the dental gap in the insurance. Anybody could do it as long as they could plausibly claim that they were calling on behalf of the GSU. I'll even do it if nobody else wants to!

Thanks for reading,
Adam Bee
Economics and Econometrics Ph.D. 2011

Hi-

The plan doesn't cover dental, and I'm not sure it should. BUT it would be nice if someone in GSU could call around to different dentists and get pricing for routine procedures like cleanings and X-rays.

Most grad students haven't been here long, and it doesn't make sense for everyone to have to do their own comparison shopping redundantly. Second, some dentists won't release their fees over the phone if they think you might be a competitor, but I'd think many would want the GSU to send them some new patients. Third, some dentists may recognize that grad students don't have much money and no insurance, so they may offer the GSU a special discount--collective bargaining is what the GSU is for, after all!

I think this is a simple, easy, cheap solution to the dental gap in the insurance. Anybody could do it as long as they could plausibly claim that they were calling on behalf of the GSU. I'll even do it if nobody else wants to!

Thanks for reading,
Adam Bee
Economics and Econometrics Ph.D. 2011

Dear Ian,

Thank you for your post. I'd like to invite you to attend our next GSU Council meeting - next Thursday, April 10th, 7PM in the Notre Dame Room of the LaFortune Center. We'll have Douglas Grabham, an independent consultant with the Hewitt Co. (the group who analyzed the ND Student Health Insurance Plan last year) who could answer your questions better than me.

In fact, I asked these same questions of him a while back, and these are the answers I received.

1. I found out that our demographic is actually one of the more expensive groups to cover - e.g. maternity costs are just one reason why we're a higher cost group to insure. Surprising, I know.

2. The plan is expensive - there's no denying that. Unfortunately (as you found in your research) there are no plans that are cheap that offer good coverage. If you wouldn't mind sharing information about the plan that your wife has with Caitlyn Shea, a GSU Co-VP who is collecting info about outside plans (cshea1@nd.edu), this would be most helpful. We're trying to assemble info. about alternate plans that students have found that may be budget friendly.

3. Because ours is a group plan, one of the factors driving the cost is the number of families enrolled. There are surprisingly few families enrolled (or perhaps not suprising -it is expensive). The Catch-22 is that this cost will not decrease unless more families enroll.

4. Family Plan subsidization: unfortunately, I don't foresee this happening soon given that there just isn't money in the budget for that.

Again, please feel free to join us at the Council meeting next week, and Doug can answer questions directly. I'll pass them along to him as well.

best,
Rebecca McCumbers
GSU President

Question being responded to:

I have a wife and 6 month old daughter. My wife (not a ND student) stays at home with our daughter, and we have a very limited income based on my stipend from the chemistry department.

Last summer, when we were trying to decide which health care plan to go with, I was a little surprised at the lack of options from the University-based plans. Although the plans offered great coverage and a low deductibles, the premiums were very pricey (the cheapest at $317/month).

You would think that the plans would match the demographics a bit more closely. Grad student families are typically young, healthy (hopefully) and relatively poor. I would rather pay a low premium and have a high deductible, knowing statistically, healthy people pay much more in premiums than they actually use if they were to pay their health care costs on their own.

I love that the University offers the plans they do. I would take the plan in a heartbeat if I thought we could afford it. We ended up putting my wife on her own Anthem plan for $115/month (higher deductible, but she is still covered against catastrophes), and my daughter on Hoosier Healthwise. So far, in 6 months we have paid a total about $900 (premium plus prescriptions and 2 unexpected doctor office visits). Using the cheapest University plan, we would have paid about $1900 during the same time period.

Anyways, I would just like more options from the University when it comes to affordable (or maybe subsidized!) family plans.

Ian

Dear Graduate Student,

Another graduate student made a similar post a while back in response to the survey we sent out to graduate families. My detailed response to their query can be found here: http://www.gsu.nd.edu/?q=node/140/110#comment-110.

I will summarize the points here for you as well.

In re the Graduate Family Medical Assistance Program that you mention: a letter was sent out in October from Dean Holland to all graduate students concerning the change in the program and funding for families. In short, due to changes in federal funding guidelines (i.e. HIPAA privacy regulations) the University had to change their policies to meet these guidelines. I posted the letter from Dean Holland at the link above as well as links to HIPAA. Rather than lose this money completely, the Graduate School reallocated it to new funding initiatives, which you mention below.

However, I'd like to clear up a few misconceptions you have about those funds. Not all children of graduate students qualify for Medicaid, and nearly a hundred were able to take advantage of the flu vaccination last fall. Moreover, this weekend, the full range of childhood vaccinations will be offered at our health fair (information about this health fair has gone out in numerous listservs/announcements).

In addition to these benefits for children, the Graduate School has also funded flu shots for SPOUSES of graduate students. They are currently negotiating with Memorial Hospital to come up with additional ways to promote wellness for spouses as well (e.g. funding preventative measures such as annual exams, pap smears, mammograms, etc.). This is still in negotiation, and when the contract is finalized, we will pass along this information to graduate students.

Your department representative should have communicated these matters to you; they have been discussed at every Council meeting this year. Also, you can access this information on our website under Health Care and under our meeting minutes (click the Council Tab to the right).

For those students who were able to make use of the former FMAP funding initiative, I understand that this is a financial loss. However, I hope that my explanation has cleared up for you why this change was necessary and has reassured you that the Graduate School is attempting to reallocate those funds in way that is both beneficial to all graduate student families and compliant with federal statutes.

Feel free to contact myself or another GSU officer should you have questions.

Rebecca McCumbers,
GSU President

Comment replied to:
Loss of graduate school family medical assistance program

The ways in which graduate student family health care funds from the Graduate School are currently used (i.e., to sponsor flu shots and vaccinations for children of graduate students) is pointless and wasteful. Most children of graduate students qualify for Medicaid and therefore have all medical care and vaccinations covered by this government program! The reimbursement program of $1000 per graduate student family for medical expenses that the Graduate School has sponsored in previous years was much more helpful and worthwhile than the current program. It is most often the spouses of graduate students, especially those not employed outside the home that are left without sufficient medical insurance. The current program does little or nothing to provide for the medical needs of these individuals. It's disappointing to see such a lack of concern for the well-being of graduate student families at Notre Dame.

I have a wife and 6 month old daughter. My wife (not a ND student) stays at home with our daughter, and we have a very limited income based on my stipend from the chemistry department.

Last summer, when we were trying to decide which health care plan to go with, I was a little surprised at the lack of options from the University-based plans. Although the plans offered great coverage and a low deductibles, the premiums were very pricey (the cheapest at $317/month).

You would think that the plans would match the demographics a bit more closely. Grad student families are typically young, healthy (hopefully) and relatively poor. I would rather pay a low premium and have a high deductible, knowing statistically, healthy people pay much more in premiums than they actually use if they were to pay their health care costs on their own.

I love that the University offers the plans they do. I would take the plan in a heartbeat if I thought we could afford it. We ended up putting my wife on her own Anthem plan for $115/month (higher deductible, but she is still covered against catastrophes), and my daughter on Hoosier Healthwise. So far, in 6 months we have paid a total about $900 (premium plus prescriptions and 2 unexpected doctor office visits). Using the cheapest University plan, we would have paid about $1900 during the same time period.

Anyways, I would just like more options from the University when it comes to affordable (or maybe subsidized!) family plans.

Ian

I would like to express my concern about Notre Dame's health insurance provider, United Health Care. United is currently being investigated by New York State Attorney General's office for fraudulent reimbursement schemes (see below). The state of California recently fined United Health Care and its subsidiary PacifiCare $1.3 billion dollars for over 100,000 violations of California regulations on payments for medical care. In addition, the LA Times writes: "Separately, the state Department of Managed Health Care alleged that 30% of the medical claims it reviewed were improperly denied. That agency is seeking an additional $3.5 million in fines." (http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-insure29jan29,1,2413322.story?ctra...)

Fortunately, I have not had occasion to file a claim for serious medical care. But I am dreading the day I a may have to deal with United's claim services. Be aware that United has a record for skimping on payments and denying coverage. Be prepared to appeal denials and pursue your claims.

I would also urge Notre Dame to drop its affiliation with United Health Care.

Thank you.

From the the New York State AG's office: "Under the United insurers’ health plans, members pay a higher premium for the right to use out-of-network doctors. In exchange, the insurers promise to cover up to 80% of either the doctor’s full bill or of the “reasonable and customary” rate depending upon which is cheaper.

The Attorney General’s investigation found that by distorting the “reasonable and customary” rate, the United insurers were able to keep their reimbursements artificially low and force patients to absorb a higher share of the costs." (http://www.oag.state.ny.us/press/2008/feb/feb13a_08.html)

My opinions on the health care issue are probably as strong as anyone else's, but they are tempered by my need to get care for my kids in the fastest, most cost-effective way I can. Raising 2 kids (one who has needed outpatient surgery and occupational therapy) on a stipend and a small part-time job has taken some resourcefulness.

If the university makes an agreement with St. Joe hospital, fine. If not, the resources are already out there. Yes, you do have to run to different offices, but I do this now while parenting two squirrely little boys, working part time, volunteering, and going to grad school myself part time.

I invite anyone who has a family to check out my Notre Dame Family Life blog. I've been a ND grad school spouse since '01, and I'll happily answer questions, or I will find someone who can. www.notredamefamilylife.blogspot.com