Using Health Insurance

Maximize your benefits

Your health insurance may cover some or even most of your health care expenses. To get the most out of your policy:

• Make sure you know your company’s requirements for submitting insurance claims to assure maximum coverage. 
• If you need help, ask for it!--from a family member, friend, a Gannett cashier (Level 3) or Billing Office staff member (Level 5). 
• Questions? Contact the Billing Office at 255-7492.

If you have the Cornell University Student Health Insurance Plan

We will submit your Gannett charges directly if you are enrolled in the Cornell University Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP). Tell the cashier you have SHIP when you are checking out. You can find all you need to know about the plan at the Cornell Office of Student Health Insurance. 

If you have private insurance

Cornellians have over 1700 different types of health insurance, so we are unable to submit claims directly for patients with private insurance. But we’d like to do what we can to make it easy for you to submit your own receipts for reimbursement.

• At the end of each visit (or any time after a visit), please go to the Gannett cashier or the Billing Office to request a receipt for services. We will give you a detailed receipt that includes the information insurance companies require to process requests for reimbursement.
• Send the receipt to your insurance company for reimbursement.
• If you prefer to have the receipt sent to your parent or other family member, please let us know. We will be happy to send the receipt for you. For your protection, this is never done automatically: we must have your permission after each visit to release confidential information about your health care. Insurance companies require receipts reflecting specific diagnostic information in order to process requests for reimbursement.

Gannett will submit your claims directly if you are insured by:

• The Cornell Student Health Insurance Plan (administered by Aetna Student Health)
• Cornell Athletic Injury Insurance (co-pays only)
• HealthNow
• Aetna US Healthcare (MC/PPO/EPO plans only)
• United Health Care/The Empire Plan
  (not Blue Cross/Blue Shield)

Please make sure we have a copy of your insurance card.