 Staff Nurse of Mary S. Shook Student Health Services, Kevin Long, checks his patient’s vital signs at the facility’s After Hours Clinic on Monday. Photo by Sarah Bono | The Appalachian The health plan, which is organized and operated by Pearce and Pearce, Inc., is part of the UNC-system’s mandatory health insurance policy that will go into effect for the first time this year.
Students who are not enrolled or waived out of the health plan by Sept. 30 will automatically be enlisted and will pay the plan’s $325.50 insurance premium each semester through their campus account.
Though students have more than a month left to enroll or waive out, Bruce I. Mallette, UNC General Administration senior associate vice president for academic and student affairs, said the semester-based premium will already be on student accounts that have not waived.
“If you waive out up through Sept. 30 and you have not incurred any claims while it’s been sitting there, the premium disappears and there is no charge,” Mallette said. “If by chance a student gets doubly confused of not waiving out and somehow uses Pearce and Pearce to file a claim, then you have that coverage for the rest of the semester.”
If a student makes an error while filling out their waiver form and their private insurance policy is rejected, they do have until Oct.14 to appeal the rejection, Mallette said.
Each student waiver is valid for one year.
Students who enroll or are enlisted in the UNC-system’s health plan must be enrolled in a degree-seeking program, be taking a minimum of six credit hours, and be eligible to pay the campus health services fee.
Though the UNC-system’s health plan includes a wide-variety of providers and specialists, there are ways for Appalachian students to add specialists in the Boone area.
“If you have a provider that you want make sure is in the network, you can go by your student health center and they can contact us,” Carolyn Pearce, director of operations for Pearce and Pearce, Inc., said. “Students are also welcome to send an e-mail in telling us the providers name and phone number that is all we need.”
Bob Ellison, director of Appalachian’s student health services, said many health providers and specialists around Boone have already been added to the UNC-system’s provider network.
For more information on the mandatory health insurance policy or the UNC system-wide health plan, visit healthservices.appstate.edu or pearceandpearce.com.
Story: NASH DUNN, News Editor
Photo: SARAH BONO, Intern Photographer |
