International students may opt out of Cardinal Care

Vaden Health Center announced Monday that international students may now request an annual exception to the University’s requirement that they purchase Cardinal Care health insurance.

Under Vaden’s new policy, international students must provide proof that their domestic insurance plan satisfies or exceeds a number of criteria.

Insurance plans must include an annual deductible less than $1,000, cover inpatient and outpatient medical care and mental health care in the Bay Area and the United States, cover both emergency and non-emergency care and cover prescriptions.

Health care policies are also required to have a lifetime aggregate maximum benefit of $2 million or a maximum per lifetime benefit of $500,000. The plans must insure students for an entire academic year, beginning Sept. 1 and ending Aug. 31.

To opt out of Cardinal Care, international students should ask their insurance company to complete an Insurance Coverage Certification Form.

Addy Satija, a doctoral student in electrical engineering and energy resources engineering, took part in negotiations between administrators and international students to ease the Cardinal Care mandate, which was announced in February.

“I think they’re being very receptive to our suggestions,” Satija said. “They’ve been very prompt with implementing it.”

“There are people who are not entirely satisfied with it,” he added. Eighty percent of international students are currently on Cardinal Care plans.

Of the 20 percent remaining, “how many of them might meet the requirements [for exemption]?” said Satija. “I honestly cannot put a number to that, but if people had concerns, they had ample time and opportunity to voice them. There were public discussions. We were working on the same side.”

— An Le Nguyen