Is it Possible to Escape Cornell’s 2.5k Student Health Plan?

If you are living on loans, every time you buy a coffee, a fricassee, or tip the pizza guy, you take out a small loan to do so. That transaction leaves you a few more notches in the red. It is debt you will one day get notices about, defer to the future, and eventually pay back with significant interest.

So it is with Cornell’s student health insurance plan. Ask a car rental agency if you need that extra insurance, and you’ll find they aren't all that motivated to help you figure it out and minimize your costs. Fair enough. Yet, if they intentionally obscure relevant details to sell you something you don’t need, I would submit that is quite a different ethical category. Is that what's happening here?

The rub’s as follows: you may have already discovered you are about to be automatically signed up and charged 2.5k a semester for student health insurance. Several emails have no doubt appeared in your inbox informing you of this action and directing you to information on how this service might be waved. Following the blue bread trail takes us to the disheartening language of the Cornell Health Policy: “...requests to waive may be granted with demonstration of alternative insurance that meet [this intimidating list of complicated requirements.]”

Take that with the fact many of us have not arrived, are not yet residents, and so are not yet eligible for alternatives, are incredibly busy, are inclined to give the policies the benefit of the doubt, and you’ll end up with a group of potential customers with very predictable behaviors.

Not only that, but a sizable disincentive is also tacked right after, a $150 fee for anyone who chooses to waive their insurance after the Aug. 16 deadline. Effectively a built in sunk cost factor --- every time a student pauses, wonders, is it worth it?, there’s a $150 floating there, threatening to vanish like a Bernie Sanders afterworld.

We therefore may never discover that for many, many a Cornellian, a much more affordable option is very definitely available. For example, if you are a US citizen, paying your expenses with loans, chances are almost certain you qualify for a state-subsidized health insurance plan. A short phone call or online survey is enough to find out (nystateofhealth.ny.gov). That can turn out to be over 2k/semester that you don’t have to borrow, don’t have to be followed around by, don’t have to pay interest on long into the the unforeseeable future.

All that said, it turns out international students are not allowed the the option of seeking or securing another health insurance, even if they can demonstrate they have a health insurance that meets all of the Office of Student Health Benefits’ conditions. For the arbitrary reason of not being a US citizen, an entirely different standard is applied with large financial implications that could very well end up being prohibitive. As you may know, international scholarships often don’t cover health insurance, and 2.5k is greater than a year’s salary in more countries than it isn't (143/176!).

But this is not a J’accuse!. I’m not railing against an imaginary Big Cornell. Institutions naturally make decisions that facilitates their mandates. And don’t we all went to attend a well-run university? Cornell is itself a complicated institution made up of many entities, the student body included, each with its own raison d'être and occasionally conflicting interests.

As for me, I submit the most equitable solution would involve creating reasonable deadlines that do not preempt and disincentivize other options. Student Health Services should also be compelled to inform students that alternatives exist. What might do the trick is something like, “Students are advised to explore all their health insurance options in the state of New York at nysateofhealth.ny.gov and make the decision that is best for them.” In fact, all those waiver emails could be a good spot for the message.

Cornell Health Services are not swindling us. My graduate assistantship covers my SHP now, and it is great. At worst, Cornell Health Services are taking advantage of an unlevel playing field to charge us for something that might not be our best option. The good news is you may still be able to find a subsidized plan (nystateofhealth.ny.gov). If it all works out and you qualify, you will then waive your SHP, cough up the $150 cancellation fee, receive a bursar refund, reflect on the nature of institutions for a few moments, and then go on about your goddamn business.