August 2006
TO: Graduate and Undergraduate Students in Mandatory Populations
FROM: M. Kilroy, Assistant Dean, Graduate Studies, Georgia Tech
SUBJECT: THE NEW MANDATORY STUDENT HEALTH INSURANCE -- Mechanisms for Paying (and Waiving)
Effective Fall 2006, the University System of Georgia (USG) requires that a supplementary student health insurance plan be mandatory for the following populations throughout the USG:
The Chancellor's Office of the Board of Regents (BOR) prepared a Request for Proposals (RFP) based on input from USG student health center directors and put it out to competitive bid. Pearce & Pearce was one of several firms that responded to the proposal and they were selected as offering the best package at the best price among those who bid.
For more information about the new insurance, see the FAQ and other information from the Board of Regents and/or the Georgia Tech Student Health Services 's FAQs.
The purpose of the following is to provide detailed information about the mechanisms for paying (and waiving) the mandatory insurance.
If you are not in one of the mandatory categories above, you can apply for a good USG-negotiated voluntary plan through Pearce & Pearce and pay them directly. Go to the Pearce & Pearce -GT site and select "Voluntary Plan" from the menu on the left. The Pearce and Pearce voluntary plan costs $891 per year for the student. Insurance for spouses and dependents is available at additional cost.
Mechanisms
Paying for the Mandatory Insurance
For students for whom the insurance is mandatory, the cost of the mandatory insurance will be charged to the student's Bursar account (as is the current international plan is for F-1 students). There will be one charge for Fall and another one in Spring for Spring/Summer. Students who have this mandatory charge on the Bursar account must pay for the insurance through the Georgia Tech Bursar along with other charges due. You can pay by credit card but there is a service charge. No fee is charged for paying by check or web check.
Getting a Temporary Insurance I.D. Card & Purchasing Dependent Health Insurance (Mandatory Plan)
Georgia Tech will send information to Pearce & Pearce about each student who paid for the mandatory insurance once fee payment and cancellations are finalized (probably by late September). Once they get the information, P&P will send permanent insurance cards to all insured students. If you wish to have a temporary insurance card in the meanwhile, you can print one from the Pearce & Pearce web site. That is also where you must go if you wish to add insurance for your spouse and/or children
First you must set up your account. Go to the Pearce & Pearce web site and click on "Mandatory Plan". You will see three choices under "Mandatory Plan": "Domestic", "International", and "Eligible English Language Institute". U.S. citizens and graduate students on resident visas should select "Domestic". Graduate students on non-resident visas should select "International". (This separation is so Pearce and Pearce can report demographic information to the USG; there is no difference otherwise.)
Clicking on one of those choices brings you to another page where you must click the box beside the text that says "I understand that I have been charged the insurance premium for the student insurance by the University and wish to set up my account without an additional charge and/or enroll my spouse and/or dependent child" in order to proceed.
If you elect to take dependent insurance after you set up your account, the amount due will show the dependent portion only. The $358 payment for you for Fall semester ($472 for Spring/Summer) will show as not due because it is to be charged and paid through GT.
To recap, if you were assessed the mandatory insurance and you paid it through Georgia Tech, you are insured. You will eventually receive a permanent insurance card from P&P but can set up an account with Pearce & Pearce and print a temporary one that can be used for medical care in the meanwhile.
Waiver of Mandatory Insurance
Students in the mandatory plan who can prove that they have comparable insurance through another source can be waived out of the mandatory plan. The vendor, Pearce and Pearce, will manage the insurance waivers and coordinate information with the Bursar's Office. Although that might sound like a conflict of interest, it's fairly common in the industry, and the BOR laid down basic waiver guidelines for P&P. Students can apply for a waiver by going to the Pearce & Pearce web site for Georgia Tech and selecting the appropriate waiver category from the "Waive Online" menu on the left.
Please note that waivers are approved term by term so you must re-apply each term . If your waiver is approved for fall, however, for the spring/summer semester you will only have to go into your account at the address above, click "renew waiver", and confirm that your information hasn't changed.
If your request for a mandatory plan waiver is denied, you will be given a reason for the denial. You can appeal a waiver denial or, in some cases, purchase a supplementary policy to make up the deficiency.
Costs
The new mandatory policy will cost $358 for Fall semester and $472 for Spring/Summer (a total of $830). Insurance for spouses and dependents is available at additional cost.
For More Information or Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
You will find much more information, such as how the supplementary insurance works with the Student Health Services, whom to contact if you think you should or shouldn't have been charged for the mandatory plan, what happens if you had health insurance with a different company last year, and much more at the Student Health Services "General Insurance FAQ" as well as the "FAQ for Mandatory Student Health Insurance for Fall 2006".