DAILY LOBO new mexico
FRIDAY January 16, 2015 | Volume 119 | Issue 83
The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895
International students unsure about insurance By Sayyed Shah and Jonathan Baca The deadline to buy health insurance is fast approaching for all students, but international students are faced with an especially difficult choice: buy the cheapest plan and hope to stay healthy, or pay a lot more for good coverage. The Global Education Office is trying to convince international students to purchase the UNM Student Insurance Plan to avoid heavy medical bills in case of emergencies or serious accidents. But the more expensive plan has been a hard sell, according to GEO officials. Most native New Mexican students have signed up for the state’s expanded Medicaid health insurance plan, but international students, who may be here from a few years to just a few semesters, do not qualify for Medicaid. And if they don’t pay for a policy in time, they receive a hold on their accounts. According to the University’s rules, international students must either buy UNM health insurance or opt out of UNM insurance and buy a certain minimum amount of coverage from an outside insurer, according to UNM’s website. However, the majority of the international students — around 60 percent — opt for the cheaper plans. These plans can be much more affordable, but in the event of an emergency the students may end up paying heavy medical bills, because the cheaper plans do not cover many things and have much higher deductibles, according to the GEO officials. “Everybody is trying to get out of the UNM insurance policy,” said Linda Melville, associate director at the Global Education Office. “They do not want to spend $1,500 a year to buy the UNM plan; they are buying these
cheaper non-UNM health insurance plans that are short-term and international that meet the minimum requirements of the University.” The minimum health insurance requirement is coverage of $100,000 per accident or illness and $25,000 for repatriation, according to UNM’s website. “People are being very short-sighted and saying, ‘I am not sick now and I am probably not going to get sick,’” Melville said. “They do not understand how health care is in the U.S. despite our explanations at the orientation — that it is really expensive if you get sick.” Students are opting instead for insurers like COMPASS Silver Student Medical Insurance and International Student Insurance: plans that start as low as $300 for 10 months, depending on the age of the student. In comparison, UNM’s insurance plan costs $1,444 for two semesters, regardless of the student’s age. Hafiz Ahmad Yar, a Ph.D. student of educational linguistics, signed up for one of the cheaper insurance policies last year. “UNM’s policy was a lot more expensive. Therefore, after consultation with friends, I bought a cheaper outside insurance policy,” Yar said. However, Yar realized his mistake after he fell ill. “I had to go through a lot of medical tests and medication, and my insurer paid almost nothing back,” he said. Yar said he had to spend all of his savings on minor stomach and dental problems. Student Health Center officials performed investigations to find out whether they needed help with enrolling people in the state insurance plans. They found out that almost all of the incoming local
see
Insurance page 2
Portions of International students with different insurance plans: Outside Insurance
23%
59%
UNM Student Health Plan through the Assistantship (graduate, research, teacher’s assistant):
18%
UNM Student Health Insurance plan (non-employee):
Comparison of insurance plans for international students UNM 2014-15 Student Insurance plan
COMPASS Silver ISO Student Insurance plan
Cost
Student Only: $1,444, Spouse/Domestic partner: $4,518, Each child: $1,928
Student only: $310, Dependent (Spouse and child each): $1980
Annual Maximum Coverage
No Limit
$400,000
Out of Pocket Maximum
$6,350
No Limit
Inpatient Hospital (In-Network)
Student matches 20%
Student matches 100%
Prescription Drugs
(from SHAC Pharmacy): Generic-$10, Brand-$20, Non-formulary-$30
$100 maximum
* International students are required to buy minimum coverage Source: UNM Global Education Office
Lottery Scholarship shaky for intersession students By David Lynch
Brianne Frias, a sophomore nursing major, hoped she could retain her Lottery Scholarship by taking an intersession course over winter break, a period when most UNM students relax and recharge before spring classes. The time she spent in the classroom, however, may not have been worth it financially, as Frias and other UNM students taking intersession courses discovered. “It was the week before school that I got an email informing me that I did not meet the requirements to maintain my Lottery (Scholarship),” Frias said. “The system bypassed the fact that I was still completing classes.” After finding that she wasn’t doing as well as she’d hoped in her fall psychology course, Frias decided to prioritize her education and registered for an intersession course to ensure she met the Lottery requirements for the spring semester, she said. Recent Lottery revisions changed the minimum that students must complete per semester to 15 hours. Frias completed 14 in the fall, and was working on six through intersession courses. But the system would not count those
additional hours, she said. “I freaked out. I didn’t know what was going on,” Frias said. “Like many students here at UNM, I need the Lottery. I was in a panic; I can’t pay for school without the help of the Lottery.” Frias said she blamed herself at first. “I felt like it was my fault,” she said. “Then I found out that I was not alone.” Most of the students in her intersession class were having the same issue: They were notified that they wouldn’t be getting the scholarship in the spring despite their efforts to retain it, she said. “At that point, the blame shifted to the school,” Frias said. She said that after talking to the financial aid office she learned that she needed to petition to get her scholarship back. In addition, she has to write a letter explaining her situation, essentially pleading her case. “Frankly, it’s annoying. I don’t understand why I am needing to petition to get it back for taking an intersession course that counts in my fall semester,” she said. Terry Babbitt, associate vice president of enrollment management at UNM, said that the petition process is one that students taking
intersession classes should expect. He also justified the structure of the courses and why they exist.
“Like many students here at UNM, I need the Lottery. I was in a panic; I can’t pay for school without the help of the Lottery.” Brianne Frias sophomore nursing major “This has been the process for many years and intersession courses have always counted towards Lottery eligibility,” Babbitt said. “Their work will count. The petition is just a formality to ensure there is a review of their updated academic record after intersession classes or grade changes.” According to UNM’s website,
the point of intersession courses is partly to “fulfill financial aid or scholarship requirements.” Some students also use them as GPA boosters when a particular class during the semester didn’t go as they might have planned. According to UNM’s enrollment management division, 2,653 students signed up for intersession classes on main campus over the break. That is a 29.3 percent increase from the 2013-2014 academic year, in which 2,052 students registered for intersession. Babbitt said that the bump in enrollment is largely due to the increase in the credit hour requirement to maintain the Lottery Scholarship, which was established in the spring of 2014. Of the 2,653 students who took intersession courses this fall, 2,495 — 94 percent — received holds on their scholarships, which may have included the Lottery. Babbitt said that final grades for intercession courses were due from professors on Thursday. “We are releasing as many of these (holds) as we can while the grades come in,” he said. Frias said she doesn’t think she should have to go through the ordeal of petitioning when UNM can wait until intersession courses are
over to inform students about the state of their scholarships. “There are students who rely on the intersession courses to keep the Lottery,” Frias said. “It is supposed to be a safety net for them.” Darby Anderson, a sophomore nursing major, is enduring the same ordeal. She said that she didn’t even know about the absence of her scholarship until she heard about it from peers in her intersession course. “I never received an email or any notification telling me I lost it,” Anderson said. “It just disappeared from my financial aid awards (online).” She added that she has no way of paying for her education if she is unable to retain the lottery. She is also working to get it back, and said she is hopeful that it will work out. “I’m definitely frustrated with UNM and the way their financial aid department works,” she said. “I appealed for my Lottery back and should find out a decision this week.” David Lynch is a staff reporter at The Daily Lobo. He can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @RealDavidLynch.