Guide to Using Your 健康 Care & 保险

Take an Active, Empowered Role in Your 健康 Care

Clinician patient consult

As a college student, this may be your first experience making a doctor’s appointment, using your health insurance, or visiting a doctor other than a pediatrician you know well. It’s common to feel confused or overwhelmed at any point in the process.

We are deeply committed to helping you learn to use your healthcare in a way that feels collaborative and empowering both at UNH and beyond.

的 World 健康 Organization 定义了 empowerment as “a process through which people gain greater control over decisions and actions affecting their health.”

在健康 & 健康, we want you as a patient to feel confident about taking an active role in your care.
 

 

What does it mean to be an active participant?

As a patient, active participation means you:

  • Feel empowered to ask questions and advocate for yourself at 你约会的时间s.
  • Feel heard and respected.
  • Understand the information presented to you.
  • Have the information and resources you need to make decisions about your care and how to manage health conditions.
  • Are asked for your opinion and are included in the decision-making process.
  • Know how to access your health insurance benefits and pay for care.

 

How can I advocate for myself?

问问题!

This may be the most important part of self-advocacy. If there is something you don’t understand—during the registration process, 你约会的时间, getting your prescriptions, following up with referrals, 任何东西!--please ask for clarification. You may also want to write down any questions you have ahead of time so you don’t forget to ask them in the moment.

常见问题:
  1. What are all my treatment options?
  2. Why is this test/treatment/procedure necessary?
  3. What are the risks or side effects of that test/treatment/procedure?
  4. How much will it cost? Are there less expensive options? (Keeping in mind that you may need to ask your insurance for more information.)
  5. What does that word mean?
  6. I still don’t fully understand. Could you clarify/tell me more?
  7. What do I do if I 管理信息系统s a dose of the 药物治疗 you’re prescribing?
  8. Are there activities, foods, substances (i.e., alcohol, smoking) I should avoid with my diagnosis or 药物治疗?
     

Get your healthcare providers’ names (and write them down if you need to).

And don’t be afraid to ask again if you’ve forgotten! This will help if you need to follow up, provide feedback, or ask a question after 你约会的时间.

If you felt comfortable with your provider, you may be able to ask for them by name for a future appointment. Or, 另一方面, if you feel that the provider is not a good match for you, you may be able to request a different one next time. 记住 that providers have different specialties, so this may not always be possible, depending on the type of care you need.
 

Be as specific and detailed as you can.

It can be intimidating to talk to a stranger about your body or personal challenges. Or maybe you are worried that certain symptoms aren’t important. Trust us when we say, our staff has heard it all and want to provide a compassionate space for you to share your concerns. 的 more specific you can be about what you are experiencing, the better we will be able to help.
 

If you do not receive the response you were hoping for, let us know.

With so much health information (and often 管理信息系统information) online these days, many of our patients attempt to do research on their symptoms before they get to their appointment. It’s natural and helpful to educate yourself about your health concerns, but there is no substitute for a well-trained, highly experienced healthcare provider. We are happy to talk through your research, but we may have to correct 管理信息系统conceptions if they arise.
 

Ultimately, communication is key.

We would rather be able to address your concerns in the moment than find out later that you were dissatisfied with your visit. Please feel free to let us know things like:

  1. Your preferred name or nickname.
  2. 你的代词.
  3. If you are feeling rushed or need more time.
  4. If you are confused or have more questions.
  5. If you are feeling uncomfortable (with questions asked, certain procedures, 等.)
  6. If you don’t understand certain terms or instructions.

 

What can I expect when making and attending an appointment?

安全

We strive to provide a safe, empowering space for you to share your concerns. Just as we ask you to share and ask questions, we want to ensure you feel comfortable in doing so. We offer trauma-informed care, 工作人员陪伴, the ability to invite trusted friends or family to 你约会的时间, translator services, and telehealth appointments for those uncomfortable with or unable to attend in-person visits.

If you do not feel comfortable using our online appointment system, you can call or come into our office and our registration staff can help you understand how to make an appointment and what to expect at 你约会的时间.
 

协作

Your healthcare should involve shared and informed decision-making. To help you make decisions, we offer:


方便

We provide medical and psychiatric care, +放射学, laboratory and prescription and non-prescription 药物治疗 services right in our centrally located main building. We also have our Living Well education/counseling services, 生物反馈, and light therapy located upstairs. Find our hours and locations here.
 

人力照顾

We acknowledge that we are human, which means we may not always get it 100% right. That being said, we are committed to learning and growing as a staff and as an organization. If you have feedback for us, please let us know either at 你约会的时间 or via our feedback form. QR codes to this feedback form are also available in each patient room.  

 

What is my Patient Portal (My健康&健康) and how do I use it?

My健康&健康 is our secure, online portal for your personal health management. 你可以用它来:

  • Make an appointment
  • Securely message with 健康 & 健康的员工
  • Read notes from your provider
  • 获取测试结果
  • Manage, upload, and access health forms
  • Access and update health history and immunization records
  • View your financial account summary
  • Upload and update your insurance card(s)

If you haven’t been to your health portal yet, get familiar with it here.

 

更多的资源

 

Paying for Care at 健康 & 健康

Students can be seen at 健康 & 健康 regardless of what insurance they have.

的 UNH health fee combined with your insurance or benefits plan ensures that your out-of-pocket costs at 健康 & 健康 stay as low as possible. This fee ensures that students have access to medical appointments and wellness counseling and coaching without a 元钱, among other benefits. 健康 insurance is not billed for services covered by the health fee.

It is your responsibility to know your health insurance coverage. You are responsible for charges that are not covered by your health fee and insurance. Refer to your Explanations of Benefits (see glossary) to keep track of what is and is not covered by your insurance company, and to make sure your claims are processed correctly.

这份价目表 can give you an idea of the cost of certain procedures, visits, and 药物治疗s at 健康 & 健康.

 

    Using Your 保险 or 健康 Benefits Plan

    请访问我们的“Student 健康 保险” page to learn about health insurance, UNH health insurance requirement, and log into the Wellfleet 保险 portal if you use the UNH Student 健康 Benefits Plan.

    Every health insurance plan is different, so it’s important to know what your specific plan covers. Here are our top tips for using your benefits:

    1. 阅读你的计划 福利摘要, which insurance companies are required to provide in easy-to-understand language.
    2. 安排你的 年度体检 每年. This is a good way for you and your doctor(s) to get to know each other, to keep up with your own health status, and to find out what kind of health care you may need in the future. Annual physicals are considered 预防保健, which is completely covered by health insurance plans (i.e., no co-pay or additional billing for these visits). 记住, 然而, that you may be charged for an 年度体检 if you bring up a health concern (例如: frequent headaches, 沉重的时期, 过敏, 等. Note: STI/HIV testing is covered once per year as a screening benefit, but is not typically covered more than once per year).
    3. When in doubt, contact your insurance provider. If you aren’t sure if a certain procedure, 药物治疗, or visit is covered by your plan, call the number on the back of your insurance card or login to your online health insurance portal and look for help regarding benefits information.

     

    Understanding 保险 Terms

    Explanation of Benefits (区块)
    When you bill a visit, procedure, or 药物治疗 through your insurance company, the company will provide an 区块 that details how they processed your claim. 的 区块 would also include a reason if the claim was denied, which provides you with an opportunity to resolve the issue prior to being billed for services. If something in the 区块 does not look right or you have questions, you may need to contact your insurance provider and/or your health care office.

    网内 vs. 网外
    健康 insurance companies negotiate discounts with certain providers or health care facilities, which are then considered ‘in-network’. If you go to a provider or facility that is ‘in-network’ with your insurance company, it will almost always cost less than going to one that is ‘out-of-network’.

    Some health plans will only pay for services when the member uses in-network providers, while other health plans will pay at least some of the claim even if the member uses an out-of-network provider.

    扣除vs. 溢价
    When choosing and a health plan, it’s important to look beyond the monthly payment (your 溢价) and consider the 可扣除的. This will help you calculate the 总成本 of your insurance and care, rather than just the up-front costs.

    的 可扣除的 is how much you have to spend before your insurance starts covering services (not including free preventive services). So, 例如, if you have a low monthly payment but your 可扣除的 is $8,000, that means you have to pay $8,000 of your own money before insurance will start helping you with your health care costs. If you anticipate needing a lot of health care when choosing your plan, you may want to pick a higher monthly 溢价 with a lower 可扣除的. 另一方面, if you don’t think you’ll be using your insurance much in the year ahead, you might opt for a lower monthly payment and a higher 可扣除的.

    负担额vs. 共同保险
    Another factor in calculating the 总成本 of insurance is 元钱/coinsurance. Both are payments you make to your insurance company each time you use services (not including free preventive services). 

    通常, you pay 100% of the cost of your care until you meet your 可扣除的, after which you pay a 元钱ment (aka “co-pay”) or co-insurance.

    A 元钱 is a fixed amount (such as $20 or $40) that you would pay for a specific service covered by insurance. 共同保险 is paid as a percentage of the cost of a service (例如, you pay 20% of your care and your insurance company pays 80%).

    推荐和. 预先授权
    A referral is 发行的 a primary care physician (PCP) for the patient to see a specialist. With certain insurance plans (usually HMO plans), you as the patient are required to get a referral to a specialist or other provider outside of your PCP.  If a referral is 管理信息系统sing, y你可能会 be responsible for the 总成本 of care.

    Prior authorization is 发行的 an insurance company to for care at a designated provider. This usually applies to 网外 care; 然而, it may also apply to certain medical procedures. 

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