What's Up Doc?

I have student health insurance. The RN at the clinic told me that it was the most useless insurance that she has ever seen in her life, and the strangle-hold that the insurance company has on students kept bringing up mafia references for her.


1.) The only place that your insurance covers you is the student health clinic (which is free even if you don't have the insurance), other than that you're on your way to paying down your deductible.

2.) Your deductible is $500 per semester, so essentially everything is out of pocket. (ha ha ha!!)

3.) The clinic is only good for "colds, STDs, labwork, and referrals," so if you actually need healthcare, expect a referral to a provider where you will pay 100% out of pocket.

4.) If you have the insurance, then you only have to pay a percentage for any lab work, and your prescriptions are free if they fill them at the clinic.

5.) The clinic only stocks over the counter drugs.

6.) Because it's free, the doctors and nurses love to just give you shit.

7.) At the end of the semester, it is entirely possible to get a bill for all of the "free" over the counter shit that you didn't actually want, because your "insurance" has some fine print that says it's at their discretion to cover drugs. (WTF!?)

8.) The clinic will not accept any other insurance plans.

9.) If you are a graduate student or you receive a scholarship, it is mandatory that you carry the school's insurance.

10.) The front counter staff appear to be trained to "not understand" or "forget" that you have the school's insurance plan and attempt to charge you full price for any visit. This includes calling other staff over to explain your charges to you.

"$78!?!?!? I just got blood drawn to see if I'm anemic!"

- words, words, words...

"Oh! Sorry. You do have the insurance; I didn't see that. That will be $5."


The point of all of this is that I like my doctor over there. It's a bullshit clinic, with bullshit insurance, and the whole insurance racket conjures up prison rape scene analogies, but my doctor is pretty cool. She's really brass tacks and impatient, straight to the point, type A personality, but each time I go in I ask her how she's doing today, and different questions about what she likes about her job, and why she likes working here as opposed to a hospital or other practice with more continuity of care. Her whole demeanor softens and she transforms into a person right in front of my eyes; a person with a sense of humor and a really interesting perspective on life.

She's what I like about the clinic. Actually, there are quite a few good folks over there. I ask them questions about themselves and how their days are going since they spend so much time listening to people complain and grouse (you know, cuz if you feel bad enough to go to the anal rape insurance student clinic, you must be feeling kinda bad. and when people are feeling kinda bad, they aren't usually in a great mood.) it takes its toll on a person, so i decided to ask them about them and listen.

turns out most folks don't do that, and they REALLY appreciate it. turns out your quality of care drastically improves when your provider feels re-humanized and remembers that you are a human too, rather than a problem awaiting a diagnosis. turns out, you can unearth some really great folks that you would have easily, and then intentionally, overlooked if you only stop for a second to take the time to find out about them.

my insurance is for shit though!