Pearson is director of ancillary services at the Arthur Ashe
Student Health and Wellness Center.
By Shelley Pearson
In response to Mark Miranda’s submission, “Ashe
Center, SHIP are painfully incompetent“ (Viewpoint, Jan.
24):
The Student Health Insurance Plan actually works very well, and
we at the Ashe Center are active problem solvers when issues arise.
Of course, the patients need to let us know about them.
There are several misunderstandings about the role of Ashe and
SHIP in Miranda’s submission, and I’d like to clarify
them. For instance, the Ashe Center by design does not provide the
entire spectrum of services students could possibly need. We
provide primary care services, complemented by consultants at the
UCLA Medical Center.
Since Miranda mentioned SHIP, it appears his fiancée needed
services beyond what Ashe could provide and consequently was
referred to a SHIP participating provider ““ all of whom are
located at the Medical Center. To identify these providers, we use
the resources made available to us by the Medical Center. The fact
that our resources were apparently not up to date was unfortunate,
but beyond our control.
We have recently been made aware that rather than being on
paper, update information is now online, where it is updated
regularly. This makes us all happy.
But this is not to point fingers at anyone. Miranda is
absolutely correct when referring to the complexity of receiving
medical care today and the complexity of insurance plans. Almost
all health plans today will have a restricted panel of care
providers from which to select.
We are currently in the process of negotiating next year’s
SHIP plan. This is done by the Student Health Insurance Committee,
which has a significant number of student representatives whose
views and perspectives form the core of the decisions.
When we went out to take bids on SHIP last year, bid packages
were sent to all major carriers who write campus health insurance
plans; Blue Cross chose to bid on it.
Blue Cross’s annual premium for students was so much more
expensive than our current premium ““ with considerably more
restrictions and less ability for the Ashe Center to intervene on
students’ behalf if problems should arise ““ that no one
was comfortable accepting their bid.
Having another carrier would not eliminate the problems
Miranda’s fiancée has experienced.
It’s very easy to get confused over the role of the Ashe
Center and insurance. As an organization, we gain nothing in
negotiating this plan, other than the satisfaction that we have
provided something to take care of our students’ needs when
we cannot. We are aware that student financial resources are
limited.
As insurance plans go, at the moment SHIP is a Rolls Royce plan
for a Chevrolet price. Outside of this setting, the plan would cost
students no less than $500 per month.
In addition, unlike traditional insurance arrangements, we
provide an insurance office in the Ashe Center to facilitate
students’ use of the plan and to help eliminate potential
misunderstandings as students use the plan. We also take try to
provide a fair amount of education on how to use insurance plans.
UCLA does not supply such a service to us as employees.
We understand the frustration Miranda is experiencing on behalf
of someone he loves because of a misunderstanding with SHIP and the
Ashe Center ““ we are caregivers, and we care too.