How to Reap the Benefits of AUP Insurance
Relocating to an entirely foreign place is most certainly daunting for a first year student, so one can imagine the overwhelm that students face when having to take on the pressures of a new foreign medical system. “I feel as if I was never made properly aware of my available resources,” said Hanna Bauer Richmond, AUP First Year. But fear not, here is what you can do to avoid Richmond's stress. The AUP Health office is here to help.
For American students, the requirement for student health insurance may seem a little abnormal, but for French citizens it is completely expected. Once committed to AUP, the health insurance automatically becomes added to a student's tuition. The full cost of the insurance is €590 per semester, but for students with a French social security number, the cost is only €380. The coverage lasts from the first day of school to the beginning of the next semester, then it repeats.
Spending over €1,000 per year on insurance can seem pretty daunting to the average student but there are perks. The provider, MSH International, partners with AXA Group which is a mutually complementary insurance. MSH insurance is known for their international insurance for expatriates. The insurance offers inclusive coverage, flexible formulas, easy claims and 24/7 customer support.
When speaking with the AUP Health Department, they emphasized that they wished AUP students would take advantage of all the benefits of the included insurance. According to the MSH handbook provided by AUP, “The AUP Health Care Plan reimburses all essential medical expenses, as the ceilings are set sufficiently high to cover nearly all medical practitioners in France. There is no maximum overall ceiling, no deductibles, no medical screenings and no waiting period.”
This is wonderful news to hear in the case of illness or emergency care, but that's not all that the insurance provides. MSH insurance offers various forms of care, essentially whatever treatment one could need. This includes psychiatry, physical therapy, eye examinations, dental care, medical treatment for pregnancy and childbirth, acupuncture, chiropractic care, homeopathic care, teeth cleaning, diagnostic examinations, prosthetic appliances and x-rays to name a few. The plan also covers psychological services up to €90 for 15 sessions per semester and alternative medicine at 100% coverage up to 10 sessions per semester.
A screenshot of Doctolib, the website that AUP students can use to book appointments with doctors. Image credit: Doctolib/Sarah Cronin.
Many students do not realize the benefits this insurance provides. Richmond didn’t know anything about MSH until she accidentally broke her prescribed eyeglasses that she'd had for five years. Not only did she need to get new glasses, but she was also due for her annual eye check-up.
In just a few moments, and a couple flights of stairs, Hanna was able to swing by the Health Office to pitch her concerns.
“The woman who had helped me was lovely, beyond helpful and informative” said Richmond. She was instructed to simply make an appointment with a local optician, through Doctolib, a doctor's appointment scheduling service.
She was able to get her eyes checked, and purchase glasses on the same day. She went back to the health office to get both her appointment and glasses reimbursed within minutes. AUP's health insurance is for all.
Visit the Health office on the 5th floor of Combes or for more information on the health plan, check out the AUP website here.
