University Health Services Lowers Student Health Fee

Starting this academic year, prescription drug benefits and all lab services will no longer be covered under the mandatory Harvard University Health Services fee, and students will also see a modest hike in copayments.

Pharmacy and lab testing benefits will instead be available under the supplemental portion of the University’s student health insurance plan. Students covered under their parents’ insurance plans have the option of waiving the supplemental coverage.

As a result of the insurance policy changes, all students will now pay $1126 in student health fees for the year—down $300 from last year. The cost of the supplemental plan has increased from $1404 to $1714 this year in order to absorb the additional pharmacy and lab testing benefits.

The overall cost for the University’s two-part student health plan has gone up by only $10.

Already, more than 4,500 students have waived the supplemental plan, according to Paula Fiore, the director of Plan Operations and Member Services.

This number typically exceeds 5,000 by Sept. 30, the deadline for all waiver requests, she added.

“We did a lot of work to keep the increase as low as possible,” said Mark L. Hurwitz, finance director of the University’s health plans. “We want to try to keep the premiums low for our students.”

Changes to Harvard’s student health insurance policy also include higher copayments, as drug prices have gone up roughly 20 percent from last year, Hurwitz said.

The Student Health Planning Committee, established in January 2003 by University Provost Steven E. Hyman to review the structure of Harvard’s student health plans every year, had to decide between raising the insurance premium or increasing copayments, said Hurwitz.

Fiore added that it “made the most sense” to raise copayments, which have remained roughly the same for the past few years.

To waive the supplemental plan, go to www.tinyurl.com/mcrnhm or call Member Services at (617) 495-2008.

—Staff writer June Q. Wu can be reached at junewu@fas.harvard.edu.