The Arthur Ashe Student Health & Wellness Center will be
increasing its optometry fees today, due to decreased funding
caused by California’s fiscal problems.
The majority of the changes regard the prices of contact lens
fittings and exams, said Michele Pearson, the director of ancillary
services at the center.
Beginning today, comprehensive eye exams for students who have
UCLA’s Student Health Insurance Plan will cost $10, while
contact lens fittings ““ which include an eye exam ““
will range from $60 to $200, depending on the nature of the
prescription, according to an update posted on the center’s
Web site.
For students without SHIP, eye exams will cost $55, while
contact lens fittings will range from $100 to $240, which is also
posted on the Web site.
In January, the Student Health Advisory Committee approved the
$29 increase for contact lens fitting exams for both SHIP and
non-SHIP students, according to the group’s minutes posted on
the Ashe Center’s Web site.
To lessen the financial burden of the fee increases on students,
the Ashe Center will now also include a follow-up exam with its
contact lens fittings, which previously was a separate expense,
Pearson said.
“We really hate the impact the increases have on students,
and we’re really sensitive to the situation,” Pearson
added.
The center’s current fee increases began last April when
directors were informed there would be a 20 percent reduction in
its budget.
At that time, the center staged a strategy to work around the
budget decrease, Pearson said.
Administrators at the Ashe Center were determined to keep the
center’s prices low and made several internal changes in an
attempt to lessen the impact on students, Pearson said.
The internal adjustments include laying off staff, having some
staff take on additional responsibilities and leaving some
positions vacant when employees leave, Pearson added.
Most of the fee increases were instituted last October and
included co-payments for lab tests and x-rays for all students, and
co-payments for non-SHIP students wishing to utilize Student
Psychological Services.
The fee increases at the optometry clinic come later because the
Academic Budget and Planning Office asked the center to review the
changes in optometry fees after other student health service fee
increases had been approved.
For some students, the health services offered through SHIP were
not worth their cost even before the general fee increases.
Candy Hernandez, a second-year biochemistry student, is covered
under her parent’s health insurance, but was considering SHIP
earlier this year for certain dental work. Then she found out the
fee the Ashe Center would have charged for her dental work was
almost the same as if she visit a private dentist uninsured.
“It’s not worth it for me “¦ the deductibles
are insane and many prescriptions aren’t covered,”
Hernandez said.
Another consideration is the fact that when student health
service fees increase, financial aid for those fees often does not
follow suit. Hernandez said the adjustments made to her financial
aid package to compensate for fee hikes this year was not enough so
she had to take out a loan.
Despite the increases, Pearson believes students will continue
to utilize the services offered because they are both convenient
and below market price.
“Convenience is a really large factor, since students with
Kaiser or Blue Cross find it hard to even get an appointment
without waiting too long,” Pearson said.
Yet if fees keep escalating, students may have to find alternate
plans of paying for their medical expenses.