Reader question:

I already have health insurance coverage, but my university, Columbia, automatically enrolls you in their insurance program when you register full time. How do I get out of that?

Alexis

Great question.

It can be a little annoying that your university doesn’t give you the option of enrolling or not enrolling in its Columbia health insurance program, but you have to understand that it is mostly in order to protect the interests of its own finances and those of its students. It also offers you health insurance at cheaper rates than you might receive it elsewhere. However, while it is compulsory to be insured while you are attending Columbia full time, it is not compulsory to be insured by Columbia.

If you have your own health insurance coverage, then you can get a waiver to get out of being automatically enrolled in that of your school. It’s not very hard to do. The main thing that you need is documents proving that you have other health insurance coverage. This shouldn’t be easy to get, since all you wil need is your insurance card, which you should already have on your person at all times.

The catch is that while you have to provide proof of insurance, it has to meet six criteria. To find out what these are, go to the Columbia University website. Luckily, once you have waived your coverage, you don’t have to hassle too much with it. Once you waive it for the first semester of the school year, it is automatically waived for the next one. You will, however, need to get it waived all over again for the new school year if you continue attending Columbia.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.