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Health Insurance

CSULA Health Insurance Policy

Health insurance coverage is a condition of enrollment at Cal State L.A. Should you fail to purchase health insurance, a registration hold will be placed on your records. International students will not be able to register for classes until the International Office has received verification that you have purchased the mandatory health insurance.

In the U.S., individuals are responsible for paying for any health care they receive, a notable difference from the perspective of other countries. Therefore, it is essential that anyone spending time in the United States purchase health insurance.

There are two options for purchasing the required health insurance.

Option #1: CSU-sponsored Insurance

The CSULA required health insurance plan may be purchased online using a credit card at:www.csuhealthlink.com.

How to purchase the CSU plan:

1. Visit the website: www.csuhealthlink.com. The International Office automatically receives a confirmation of your purchase the next business day. Upon receipt of the confirmation, the International Office will waive the hold through the expiration of the health insurance plan. If you wish to have the hold waived the same day as the purchase, please provide a copy of the purchase confirmation to the International Office via fax, email or in person by 4:00pm.
2. Alternatively, you may go to the CSULA Wells Fargo Branch located on the first floor of the Golden Eagle Building and purchase insurance using a money order only. After you purchase your insurance there, bring a copy of your receipt to the International Office. ELP students will submit the confirmation to the ELP office.

Option #2: Private Health Insurance

Should you wish to meet the mandatory health insurance requirement using your personal health insurance, note that private plans must meet the following criteria to satisfy the Cal State L.A.’s minimum insurance requirement. Your plan must:

• Be operated in the United States;
• Have a deductible not exceeding $100 per illness or injury;
• Have medical benefit at least $100,000 per condition and the co-payment does not exceed 25%;
• Include a benefit of $10,000 for medical evacuation and $7,500 for repatriation;
• Not require more than a six-month treatment free period prior to coverage and must not require more than a six-month waiting period.
• The policy does not exclude benefits on the basis of gender (under California Law, Title IX, the policy cannot exclude coverage, such as but not limited to, maternity, even if policy holder is male).
• Be underwritten by an insurance company:
• Having an A.M. Best rating of “A-“ or above; an Insurance Solvency International, Ltd. (ISI) rating of “A-I” or above; a Standard & Poor’s Claims-paying Ability rating of “A-“ or above; or a Weiss Research, Inc. rating of B+ or above; or
• Be backed by the full faith and credit of the home country government; or
• Be part of a health benefits program offered on a group basis to employees or enrolled students by a designated sponsor; or
• Be offered through or underwritten by a federally qualified Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) or eligible Competitive Medical Plan as determined by the Health Care Financing Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
• In particular, the following insurance plans are not acceptable and do not fulfill the University health insurance requirements:
• Travel insurance
• Reimbursement arrangements or vouchers

You must have coverage for the entire academic year, ending at the end of a specific term. For example, if your coverage is from May 1, 2010 to April 30, 2011, the hold will be waived to Winter 2011 as it covers the winter term, but not the entire spring term. The only exception is insurance through your employer or your spouse’s employer when it is provided month-to-month.

Our office recommends that you do not purchase private health insurance until you have verified that the policy meets the minimum requirements described above.

How to request a waiver:

Complete the waiver request online at www.csuhealthlink.com. If your policy meets the criteria described above, the International Office will be notified by the next business day and the hold will be waived.

Each term, a random number of students will be selected for auditing. Should you be audited on your health insurance coverage, you will be required to show proof of current coverage at the levels described above. Any falsification and misrepresentation will be reported to the CSULA Judicial Officer. You can be placed on judicial probation or expelled from CSULA.

English Language Program students: only students who are sponsored by their own government or the U.S. government and who are already covered through a policy required by their program are eligible for the waiver. Please contact the ELP office regarding the waiver process.

CSULA Student Health Center

All registered students at Cal State L.A. are eligible for health services at the Student Health Center. Services include a family doctor, preventive medicine, laboratory diagnosis, X-rays, birth control, pregnancy test, sexually transmitted diseases tests, AIDS/HIV information, and psychological counseling.

A $100 deductible is required per policy year for medical services. The deductible can be waived if the student first utilizes and is referred out by the University Student Health Center. If the Student Health Center is closed or emergency medical care is required, then the deductible is automatically waived.

Urgent Care Centers

Urgent Care Centers are medical facilities designed to offer immediate evaluation and treatment for health conditions that are not severe enough to require treatment in the hospital or a hospital emergency room. Conditions treated through Urgent Care Centers include common medical ailments such as sore throats, flu, ear aches, respiratory infections, small cuts, sprains, and minor broken bones. Urgent Care Centers provide care and treatment through qualified physicians when such care needs fall outside of a physician's regular office hours or before an appointment is available with your primary physician. Emergency room co-payment costs can be three to five times as much as a standard office visit, so visiting an Urgent Care center offers patients lower co-payments and lower overall care costs.

Some local Urgent Care Centers are:

Dusk To Dawn Urgent Care (3.9 miles from campus)
443 S SOTO ST
LOS ANGELES, CA 90033
(323) 261-2273

Hana Medical Center (6.8 miles from campus)
2017 W OLYMPIC BLVD
LOS ANGELES, CA 90006
(213) 480-1000

For life-threatening emergencies, call “911”.

Emergency Room/Hospital
The following will help you understand when to use the hospital emergency room. Remember that you may pay more for using the emergency room for any non emergency reasons.

Some Good Reasons to Go to the Emergency Room

• Loss of consciousness
• Intolerable and uncontrollable pain
• Severe shortness of breath
• Chest pain
• Uncontrollable bleeding
• Poisoning (Note: If possible, call your poison control center first and ask for immediate home-treatment advice)
• A major injury, such as a head injury.
• Severe or worsening reaction to an insect bite or sting, or to a medication, especially if breathing is difficult
• Stupor, drowsiness, or disorientation that cannot be explained.

Treatable Conditions Not Requiring Visit to the Emergency Room

• Earache
• Minor laceration (cut) where bleeding is controlled
• Minor dog bite where bleeding is controlled
• Possible broken bone (if bone is showing or if limb is deformed, go directly to Emergency Room)
• Possible strain
• A blistered sunburn or minor blistered cooking burns
• Bee or insect sting or delayed swelling (if there is breathing difficulty, go directly to the Emergency Room)
• Rash
• Fever (if there is a convulsion, go directly to the Emergency Room)
• Sexually transmitted disease (STD)
• Colds and cough, sore throat, flu

Locating Physicians/Urgent Care Centers/Hospitals

Visit www.csuhealthlink.com.and type in your address. It will provide listings of the closest available physician, urgent care center and/or hospital to you. You should have this information readily accessible for emergencies.