When sophomore Meara Christian went to the Health and Counseling Center (HCC) to pick up a prescription for an infection, she was pleasantly surprised to be charged less for the antibiotic than she thought it would cost.
“I think it’s really cheap. I only had to pay $12, which is less than I’d have to pay anywhere else,” Christian said about her prescription.
Students like Christian are benefiting from low prices on prescription medications at the health center, as well as increased in-house pharmacy benefits now available with the Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP).
The health and counseling fee, which is mandatory for undergraduates, has increased $10 over last year’s fee, from $120 to $130, said Jeremiah Mashore, assistant director of operations at the health center.
This increase brings access to inexpensive prescription medications at the health center’s in-house pharmacy. Usually medications are cheaper at the HCC then at another pharmacy, said Dr. Sam Alexander, executive director of the health center.
However, how much a student will pay depends on the student’s health insurance provider, as well as the medication. It is possible that medications at the HCC may be more expensive than at Walgreens or another local pharmacy, Alexander said.
“Everything we have here, if you were paying totally out of pocket, would be cheaper than at another pharmacy,” Alexander said.
The health and counseling fee also covers low co-pays on counseling and medical appointments. There is a $10 co-pay for the student’s first 10 visits, then $20 for the 11th appointment on.
If a student has the SHIP through DU, there is no co-pay for medical and counseling appointments.
The SHIP is $70 cheaper this year. It is now available for $2,150 per year, down from $2,220 per year for the 2007-2008 school year. The university switched from Aetna to United Healthcare as the provider of the student insurance plan.
The SHIP is optional and can be waived at the beginning of each school year.
It is more popular with graduate students, who are often no longer on their parent’s health insurance, said Mashore.
As well as being less this year, the SHIP brings an additional $80 in in-house pharmacy benefits. The 2007-2008 benefit was $220 worth of free medications at the health center. It is now $300.
“The plan (SHIP) is built just for DU,” Mashore said.
The Health Center decided to increase the pharmacy benefits because of student reactions on last year’s annual HCC survey.
The figure of $300 was decided upon in part because the health center wanted to be able to fully cover birth control pills for female students, Alexander said.
Typically $300 is the cost of birth control pills for one year.
The HCC employs a full counseling and medical staff. There are three physicians, two physician’s assistants and two nurse practitioners. The counseling staff is five full-time psychologists, one part-time psychologist and eight graduate student psychology trainees.
This full staff allows students to make same day appointments and receive treatment quickly, as was the case with Meara Christian.
“I got in right away,” Christian said.
For the 2007-2008 fiscal year, the Health Center had 15,608 medical visits and 6,143 counseling visits.
The HCC only offers medical and counseling appointments to current DU students, but it has a short-term counseling program for employees for job stress, relationship issues and other emotional problems, Alexander said.
“It’s really convenient that they have medications there, especially for college students,” said Christian. “I’ve had a good experience.”
