Metro students are paying less and getting more from their school health insurance this year.

The health insurance rate decreased 8 percent from last year, now costing only $665 per semester, while the maximum lifetime benefit increased to $2 million and mental health benefits were added.

"We stressed that we were looking for a competitive proposal," Steve Monaco, director of the Auraria Student Health Center, said of the new insurance rate. Under Colorado state law, the health center can only seek out a new insurance rate every five years.

Photo by Adriana Carlson/acarls15@mscd.edu

The increased lifetime benefit means students will receive benefits until they reach the $2 million maximum.

"During the time under the plan, once you hit the $300,000 max, you no longer receive benefits," Monaco said of the old lifetime maximum, noting that it's easy to reach that amount with a serious illness.

Coverage for biologically-based mental illnesses was extended to outpatient treatment for eight additional areas including substance abuse, anorexia and bulimia.

Previously, only six disorders, including bipolar disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder, were covered, Dr. Kevin Cowperthwaite, psychiatrist at the health center, said.

A limit on oral contraceptives was also removed, Monaco said.

"A women couldn't get her 12-month supply under the cap where now it's covered," he said.

Under the plan, visits to the health center are covered 100 percent, including an annual exam with lab work. While the coverage does extend outside the health center, visits to off-campus doctors will not be covered until students meet the plan's $300 deductible.

In addition to Cowperthwaite, two other specialists, an obstetrician-gynecologist and an orthopedist, work at the health center, all of which are fully covered by the plan. "That's huge. To send you to a specialist on the outside would cost a fortune," Monaco said.

Students enrolled in 10 or more credit hours during the fall and spring semester are required to enroll in the plan, which is billed along with tuition, unless they prove they already have health insurance.

"There are a lot of students that go on this plan that are uninsurable," said Laura Evans, insurance consultant for Metro and owner of ECI Insurance Consulting.

Many students who tried to purchase individual insurance plans on their own would only be eligible for plans such as those offered by CoverColorado, a non-profit group that provides insurance policies for those unable to get policies from private insurance companies, Evan said. "The premiums on that plan are out of this world," she said.