Verification of Student Status for Health Care Coverage of University Employee Dependents

Motion:

UA Staff Alliance requests the University of Alaska to establish an efficient method for verification of student status for health care coverage of university employee’s dependents.

Background:

Employees’ health care coverage covers dependents until the age of 18 or up to the age of 24, if they are full time students.

Premera Blue Cross representatives indicated that all companies and organizations which they represent have Premera Blue Cross verify valid student status via a phone call between the employee and Premera Blue Cross. The only exception is the University of Alaska, who wanted a more formal method to discourage coverage of ineligible dependents.

The University of Alaska requires Premera Blue Cross to verify valid full time student status in written form. This consists of a process performed twice yearly where

1. Premera sends the employee a two page form

2. The employee must fill out one form

3. The employee must send the student the second form

4. The student must fill out the form and take it to the college registrar for further completion.

5. Both forms must be returned to Premera Blue Cross by an expedited time certain to continue coverage.

If either of these forms are not received, Premera Blue Cross won’t contact the employee. Instead they cancel coverage without telling the employee for nearly a year.    There are obviously numerous possible failure points here and this process takes up time of many more hands than necessary.

Upon discussion with Mike Humphrey, UA Benefits Director, he indicated this system was established when the University changed health care management providers from Aetna to Premera Blue Cross and this was the only way that Premera Blue Cross would do something other than the phone confirmation. However, Premera indicated this month that, of all the plans they administer, this is the only plan with this process.

Premera Blue Cross representatives indicated with further prompting that they would alternately accept a class schedule faxed to them, though they don't advertise this or the fax number. Mike Humphrey indicated they were not supposed to do this.

Mike Humphrey indicated that, of about 350 dependents using this coverage, there are about 10% each semester that have problems such as cancellation of coverage. While the University is legitimately concerned about not covering ineligible dependents, the current system has too many points of failure and, even when it works, takes time of every college registrar, the employee, the student, and that of UA Benefits in responding to questions and problems.

While the University is rightly concerned with only covering eligible dependents, there needs to be a less cumbersome and failure prone method by which to achieve this goal.