Thousands of students could be locked into paying for health insurance that they do not want unless they waive out of the University’s mandatory health insurance program today.
This oversight could cost each student who already has insurance and does not want the plan $361.50 per semester.
This year, the University joined the other 15 universities in the UNC system in mandating health insurance for all eligible students. The University had been one of five in the system that did not require students to have health insurance.
A student must buy health insurance if he or she is enrolled in at least six hours as an undergraduate or one hour as a graduate student, is in a degree-seeking program and is eligible to pay the student health fee.
In order to waive out of the mandatory program, a student must present proof of health insurance using a form on the website of Pearce & Pearce, Inc., the system’s health care provider.
As of Wednesday at noon, 18,522 students had submitted waivers and been approved while 7,978 students were still in the program, said Carolyn Pearce, vice president of Pearce & Pearce, Inc.
She said another 32 had opted to purchase a voluntary plan through the company, an option available to students who were eligible to pay the student health fee and met one of the other two criteria.
Mary Covington, executive director for Campus Health Services, said it is difficult to project the number of students who will ultimately enroll.
“There will be stragglers and people who wait until the last minute to waive out,” she said. “It’s hard to give an exact figure until we’ve reached that deadline.”
