Columbia University’s health insurance program operates on a referral basis. You can go at any point to the on campus clinicians without a referral, but if you intend to go to a doctor or hospital outside of the Columbia campus, then you have to get a referral, either from the Primary Care Medical Services department or from Counseling and Psychological Services. If you are a full time registered student of Columbia and you have an emergency requiring you to go to the hospital, then it isn’t necessary for you to get a referral. You can get treated and then file a claim later.

In order to get a referral from PCMS or CPS, you have to go to the on campus clinicians first. Once they have attempted to treat you, or partially treated you, they can give you a referral to go outside the campus. Here are the steps that you have to follow.

• If you don’t get a referral before receiving medical treatment off the Columbia campus, then you aren’t covered. The only exception is for emergency situations.
• The way to get a referral has been made easier by making it to where you don’t need a new one every time you go to the same off campus doctor. Instead, the referrals are based on your condition. So, if you have to go see a certain off campus physician for one condition, a single referral covers all of your visits to said doctor for the same condition, with no limits unless you visit the doctor for a different reason.
• You’re still covered by the Columbia health insurance plan even when you aren’t in the city. If you are on break somewhere else and you get sick or hurt, you still have to get a referral, but you can do it over the phone.
• Copays are required most of the time for visits to off campus physicians.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.