E-mails from the Department of Human Resources have been sent en masse to OU students over the last two weeks pushing them to sign up for the university’s health insurance plan.

The Student Health Plan has existed for more than 20 years, offering two levels of coverage for undergraduate, graduate, health sciences and international students and their spouses and minor children. The deadline to sign up for the plan is Friday.

“[The program] was initially brought about to meet federal requirements for international students and to provide a competitive benefit for graduate assistants, for whom the university pays the full premium,” said Nick Kelly, assistant director for the Office of Human Resources.

The program has close to 2,800 people enrolled in the two offered plans.

Plan 1 has up to $1 million maximum coverage and Plan 2 offers up to $50,000 coverage.

“[These plans] provide a competitive benefit to graduate assistants and provide international and domestic students with protection for accidents and illness at a very reasonable price comparable with other university student health plans,” Kelly said.

Both insurance plans are part of a Preferred Provider Organization or PPO, which is offered by multiple national and local companies. The plans are organized through third-party administrator Macori, Inc.

The plans are competitively priced as compared to other products of the same nature. Plan 1 has annual costs of $1,371 and Plan 2 is priced at $814 annually for students.

“OU encourages them to enroll in Plan 1 because it pays more of the cost for Covered Medical Care and services than Plan 2 pays,” Macori’s Web site states. “Although coverage costs more under Plan 1, it has much better coverage and a much higher maximum benefit.”

Students may enroll in either plan for a period of one full year, or for fall, spring and summer semesters singularly or in combination. Once a plan has been chosen, the insured does not have the option to change their plan during that same academic year.

The plans vary in their features, but both provide pharmaceutical benefits. While both require that students first seek medical attention at Goddard Health Center, coverage is technically provided across the United States. If there is some reason Goddard cannot treat a patient, that patient will be referred to another medical facility, usually Norman Regional Urgent Care Clinic.

Plan 2 includes routine doctor visits, examinations and some vaccinations, as well as lab work and even some physical therapy and counseling services. Other services are available through the plan, and many of these benefits are subject to restrictions and out-of-pocket co-pays.

Although people insured by Plan 1 pay a higher premium, it also pays a higher percentage of the treatment costs than Plan 2. For example, Plan 1 will pay for up to $1,250 for medication, while Plan 2 only pays up to $500.

One issue that has some students’ eyebrows raised is the university’s requirement that international students have health insurance while they are enrolled at OU.

While some exceptions are made for students with health insurance from their employers or students with plans backed by their home countries, the U.S. State Department sets a minimum level of health insurance required for all exchange students.

In the absence of an approved waiver, OU’s solution to this issue is to enroll international students automatically in Plan 2 and bill the premiums to the students’ bursar accounts. Some students do not believe that this practice is in their best interest.

Supply chain management junior Clémentine Guillon, who has a student health insurance plan through her home country of France, says that she would not consider giving up her current plan to switch to OU’s.

“My French insurance pays for 100 percent of my medical expenses — hospitalization or other medical care — without any unreasonable restrictions,” she said. “My insurance is also a lot cheaper.”

Journalism sophomore Silro Lee was not able to keep her South Korean health insurance plan through AIG. She was told she must enroll in the Student Health Plan.

“The disease or injury coverage included is similar,” Lee said, comparing her Korean plan with the OU plan. “My original plan had an annual coverage option for only $560, but OU’s health insurance required us to pay $814 dollars per year.”

Providers of university-endorsed health insurance products, however, maintain that their services are, for the most part, a positive force on campus.

“In the United States, health insurance coverage isn’t just a good idea, it’s a necessity,” according the program’s Web site.

For enrollment and plan specifics, go online to www.hr.ou.edu/studenthealth/enroll.asp.