University of Pennsylvania health plan waiver

The University of Pennsylvania has a close affiliation with the Aetna student health insurance plan and this is the easiest way to ensure full health care on the Penn campus. but this coverage adds $2,500 per year to the cost of an already expensive education. If you are satisfied with your current insurance then we agree that there is no reason to change.

The University now requires that this process be handled online so your daughter must have been assigned a PennKey and password to access the university's PennPortal Web site health insurance selection area. If she does not yet have this information, see the PennKey web site.

Once you have the waiver form, contact the health plan agent or administrator. Keep in mind that the insurance company member service department may not provide this verification. (See the post "Verification of insurance for college waiver" for an explanation of the distinction.

The University of Pennsylvania 's minimum coverage requirements are straightforward:

• The insurance company must be licensed in the U.S. with domestic service and claims offices.
• The policy must cover pre-existing conditions, in-patient and out-patient medical care, including specialist office visits, diagnostic testing, in-patient and out-patient mental health care in the Philadelphia area.
• The policy's maximum benefit must be at least $500,000.

These minimum coverage requirements are based on the coverage limits of Aetna's limited benefit student health insurance. The coverage requirements are specifically intended to exclude qualification by other student polices issued by Aetna's chief commercial competitors. However, most major medical policies significantly exceed these minimum requirements.

Other resources:

University of Pennsylvania health insurance requirements