University of California Graduate Student Health Insurance Plan ,GSHIP, UC Graduate Student Health Insurance Plan ,UC-SHIP, UC Graduate Student Health Insurance Puts Students in Danger Internet, Internet

During the Fall of 2011, the University of California crawled in bed with Wells Fargo and Anthem Blue Cross and instituted a new graduate student “health plan” (that’s an oxymoron).  Important facts about this “insurance” includes,

"1. All UC students are required to have medical insurance.

"2. All registered students are automatically enrolled in UC SHIP, charged to their tuition bill."

Previously, the graduate student health insurance plan was acceptable – all students could gain access to the health care they needed. The new plan; however, places students in grave danger and is nothing more than a scheme to bilk money out of students (who are also being subjected to skyrocketing tuition costs). Indeed, the plan is so bad that it is now impossible for students to get the “health care” they require. In the past, graduate students who lived great distances from their school (> 50 miles) could obtain health care from providers in their local community. The UC-SHIP now requires that ALL students drive to their school’s “Student Health Center” (another oxymoron) for ALL health care. If you live more than 50 miles from campus, that means taking a day off of work (yes, many graduate students do have jobs) just to take care of mundane tasks such as getting a prescription refilled because their “Health Centers” have hours that are even worse than the Post Office – many close at 4:30 P.M. and are only open during weekdays.

If you get ill during the evening or on a weekend, forget about getting help (of course, you can always go to the local emergency room, wait for hours in their lobby, and then pay exorbitant fees because the “new and improved” health insurance requires it). If you’re ill but are not sure if you need to go to the emergency room (and don’t want to get stuck with a huge medical bill), don’t bother to call the Anthem Blue Cross’ “24/7 NurseLine” – they don’t help either. They’ll just tell you to “go to the emergency room if you think you need it” or tell you to look at their web site to find an urgent care. If it’s Friday evening and you become ill, you’re S.O.L. Of course, you can always wait until rush hour on Monday morning (assuming you haven’t died over the weekend) and fight traffic to drive the 50+ miles to the student health center.

Do you need routine blood work (and are required to fast before you have the test)? Not to worry, the UC Graduate Student Health Plan uses Quest Diagnostic Labs. Sure, you may have a few dozen of these labs in your neighborhood but that doesn't matter to the University of California, Anthem Blue Cross, or Wells Fargo – the UC SHIP insists that you pay a fortune (in order to meet the new exorbitant deductible on the "improved" health insurance plan) to go to the Quest Lab across the street from your home. Instead, UC SHIP requires that you drive take another day off of work to drive the 50 + miles to campus, through rush hour traffic, just so that you can have your blood drawn on campus only to be sent to . . .yup, you guessed it . . . Quest Labs (yes, the same company that has a dozen offices in your own neighborhood). Of course, you also hope that you don’t pass out on your journey to the campus health center because you’re on a fast and the gridlock traffic to campus added an additional three hours to your drive.

The UC Student Health Insurance web site states, “The University of California is proud to announce the new UC Student Health Insurance Plan (UC SHIP) a systemwide insurance plan providing enhanced health benefits to all
enrolled students.”

“Enhanced health benefits”!?!?!? My pet hamster gets better health care from the local veterinarian.