Is your college student’s healthcare in order?
Posted on September 24, 2015
Here are four tips to help you prepare for your son or daughter’s healthcare while he or she is away at college.
Tip # 1
Make sure your college student has his or her own health insurance ID card. If you don’t have a spare health insurance ID card, here are some quick ways to order one:
- Log onto our , member portal where you can print out a temporary health insurance ID card or request a new health insurance ID card to be mailed to you.
- Call our toll free number at 310.2835, Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m., and request an additional ID card to be mailed to you.
- Download our free Health New England application on your smart phone. Register with the Health New England app and then send a paper copy of your health insurance ID card to your child’s doctor’s office to have on file.
As a friendly reminder, your son or daughter is covered on your health insurance plan until the end of the month of their 26th birthday.
Tip # 2
If your son or daughter is 18 years of age or older, you will need permission to be listed as a personal health representative to speak on his or her medical behalf and view detailed claim or policy information.
How do you become a personal health representative?
You must fill out Health New England’s Authorization of Personal Representative form to be allowed rights to view your son or daughter’s detailed claim or policy information. Simply have your son or daughter complete the form and mail it back to us.
Tip # 3
Dependents attending and residing at school outside of the Health New England service area are covered with their HMO plan for the below services with authorization:
- Non-routine medical office visits for urgent care
- Includes diagnostic lab and x-ray
- Follow-up visit after an:
- Emergency visit
- Urgent Care visit
- Allergy injections
- Outpatient Behavioral Health visit. Note: An out of area provider must submit a referral on the Out of Network Provider Form.
- Outpatient Short-Term Rehabilitation Services
- Access to Nationwide Pharmacy
Note: Emergency services and access to nationwide Pharmacy do not require Prior Approval.
For Non-HMO plans, these services are covered at the out of network benefit level.
Tip # 4
Also keep in mind that your son or daughter can sign up for Teladoc (a phone or online video consultation with a board-certified physician) to treat non-emergency medical issues such as cold and flu, urinary tract infections, ear infections and more.
Teladoc guarantees to connect a member with a doctor in less than an hour and is an affordable and convenient alternative to the urgent care center or emergency room. The member cost is the same as you would pay for a visit to your primary care provider (PCP) –
$0-40 depending on your plan.
Search here to view our online provider database. If you can’t find a provider or are unsure of your benefits, feel free to call our toll free number at 800.310.2835, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
We hope that these tips put you at ease while your son or daughter is away at school. On behalf of Health New England, we wish your child a safe and healthy college experience.
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