News

Metro's insurance vs. others:
Health costs for Jack and Jill

By Birgit Moran

When comparing insurance, variables can include prescriptions by type and frequency, out-of-pocket maximum costs, medical providers offered by the company and typical costs for emergency room visits.

The Metropolitan shopped two hypothetical situations: In situation one, Jack, 24, is a non-smoker without a pre-existing condition and is healthy except for catching the flu sometime this year and having to visit the emergency room for a broken arm. In situation two, Jill, 25, is a healthy, non-smoking female who takes anti-depressants year-round and will have an annual physical.

Variables are considerable. For instance, routine medications may or may not be covered and are priced differently, based on quantities for each prescription. Some plans have prescription maximums and deductibles, or don't cover prescriptions at all. Emergency room visits and charges are hard to determine because each provider, and each incident, differs in cost.

If Jack paid Metro $2,040 a year (three semesters) for his insurance, plus his deductibles and medications, his total out-of-pocket expenses would be about $700. With his plan through Metro, Jack would pay about $2,740 for the year.

Using the same parameters, four other plans ranged from a low of about $1,621, to a high of about $3,014. For Jack, the cost of Metro's plan would be average.

If Jill paid Metro $2,040 for her insurance, plus the co-pay for her medication, her out-of-pocket expenses would be about $240. For Jill, Metro's plan would cost her about $2,280 for the year.

Pricing four other policies, Jill's costs ranged from a low of about $1,731, to a high of about $2,198. For Jill, the cost of Metro's plan would be the highest.

Again, both Jack and Jill are only examples of two possible health insurance plans with common variables. Plans can vary from student to student.

At the Colorado School of Mines, about 1,200 students enrolled in their insurance plan pay about $1,200 a year. The Mines' plan is self-funded, according to Stephen Beckley, an insurance consultant in Fort Collins.

Stephen Monaco, director of the Health Center at Auraria, said that self-funding Metro's plan is in the research stage, but the different demographics make for an unfair comparison. CU-Boulder students pay close to the same as Metro.

The $28.43 health services fee Metro charges is not part of the insurance and it cannot be waived. The fee covers access to health education programs, public health emergencies and up to 10 free visits to the counseling center in the Tivoli.

To evaluate Metro's policy against others, the Auraria health center offers a benefit comparison table as part of its Health Insurance Notification Letter, which is available at http://www.mscd.edu/student/resources/insurance.