Introduction
Health insurance is complicated. The rules that govern using your health insurance at the Student Health Center, what your insurance pays for, and what you have to pay for out of pocket can be hard to understand. In general, NC State University students may receive service at the Student Health Center. However, NC State University has many different student populations, and each population has different rules and requirements. Therefore your student status may qualify you for some Student Health Center services but not others. In addition, depending on your student status, you may be required to carry health insurance. However, depending upon the health insurance plan you subscribe to, your insurance plan may cover the cost of all, some, or none of a particular service at the Student Health Center. Therefore it is not safe to assume that all Student Health Center services are free.

Overview of Insurance Rules and Exceptions
Most NC State students pay the Student Health Services fee as part of their tuition and fees packages. The Student Health Services fee funds on-campus medical and mental health services at Student Health Services (SHS) and the Counseling Center. This fee works like taxes work. Just like the North Carolina Transit Authority uses taxpayer money to repair highways in North Carolina, so does the Student Health Center use the pool of student health fee money to provide services for NC State students. If you pay the Student Health Services fee, you’re paying for the privilege of using the Student Health Center. Routine visists are free, however, there are additional costs associated with most tests, procedures, labs, X-rays, and some routine exams (such as general health and women’s health physicals).

Because of a state-level requirement that affects all sixteen universities in the University of North Carolina (UNC) System, students at NC State University, with a few notable exceptions, must have health insurance coverage. If you have the University-sponsored health insurance plan, administered by Pearce & Pearce, Inc., or if you are a graduate or postdoctoral scholar who receives health insurance coverage from Hill, Chesson and Woody, then almost all of the services at the Student Health Center (including tests, labs, routine exams, etc.) are covered for no additional charges or fees.

If you have any other health insurance (e.g., your parents’ insurance) then your insurance company considers the Student Health Center an out-of-network provider. Therefore the full costs of all tests, labs, x-rays, and routine exams will appear on your student account. However, full cost at the Student Health Center is less expensive than most doctors’ offices in the Raleigh area.

You can submit claims for reimbursement for these charges to your parents’ insurance company, and the insurance company may reimburse you. However, you will likely receive less than 100% reimbursement (80% is common). For any insurance plan other than the University-sponsored health insurance plan, the Student Health Center will not submit insurance claims on your behalf. Therefore, if you have a health problem or if you need a routine exam, and you want to use your parents’ insurance to cover expenses, then it may be less expensive to use an in-network provider in Raleigh who accepts your parents’ insurance than it would be to visit the Student Health Center. However, some students feel the convenience of on-campus healthcare is worth the hassle of filing for reimbursement with their parents’ insurance.

For questions please contact student-health-insurance@ncsu.edu