Business Office

The Wellness Fee is a per semester fee that is applied to students enrolled in three or more credit hours. If you are taking less than three hours, you will have the choice to opt in to pay the Wellness Fee.

When the Wellness Fee has been paid per semester a student will not be charged for office visits when seen by a Watkins’ provider.

For students enrolled in three credit hours or more the Wellness Fee will be paid through your tuition. The Wellness Fee is not billable to any insurance company. If the student is enrolled in less than three credit hours per semester and the student has not paid the Wellness Fee, the student will be charged for office visits when seen by a Watkins’ provider.

No, not all services at Watkins are free. The only thing that is free are the face-to-face appointments with our providers. All procedures, x-ray, labs, injections, prescriptions, etc. will come with a charge, but at a much lower rate than you would be charged elsewhere.

We can bill most major insurances. However, this does not guarantee that the insurance company will consider us “in-network” and does not guarantee payment for a service. Payment for a service is dependent on many different things: your specific plan, the reason for the service, circumstances surrounding your visit, other things done at the time of service, etc. This is up to your insurance company to review and decide if they are going to pay. We cannot tell you if your insurance company will cover a specific service. You will need to call the insurance company and discuss your coverage with them.

No. We are not contracted with Medicaid. You can still be seen by providers at Watkins at no cost if your health fee has been paid. However, if any other services such as labs, injections, or prescriptions are needed, you will have to work with staff to be referred elsewhere in the community or pay for those services to be done at Watkins. Watkins staff must be aware that you have Medicaid prior to your appointment. If we are not informed, you will be financially responsible for any services received.

Unfortunately, no. If we bill something to your insurance where the parent is the policyholder, they will have the ability to see the charge. We do offer a “Private Billing” option though. Just request “Private Billing” at the time of service. The staff member helping you will direct you to the Business Office. You will have to complete a “Financial Responsibility” form and you will need to pay for the services at that time. If the service is not paid for the same day, we cannot guarantee that it will be billed privately. If a parent calls and asks about a service that was done, we will not tell them anything about the service as most students are considered legal adults.

We cannot tell you if your insurance will cover a specific service. Payment by insurance is never guaranteed. We can tell you what the price would be without insurance/the price that will be billed to insurance. The Business Office can provide you with pricing for specific lab tests. If the insurance does not pay, that price is the amount you would be responsible for.

The University of Kansas has a contract with UnitedHealthcare to offer reasonably priced insurance to our students. It is not required for students to have health insurance while at KU, but it is highly recommended. This contract with UnitedHealthcare allows you to receive services at Watkins, without having to pay your deductible first.

Each school year there are three open enrollment periods in which you would be able to sign up for the insurance. It usually opens the month before the semester starts and closes at the end of the month when the semester starts (i.e., fall enrollment would be July-August). If you do not apply for the insurance within these enrollment periods, you will not be able to get coverage. The exception to this would be a life qualifying event; birth/adoption of a child, loss of previous coverage in the last 30 days, marriage, etc. If you are applying due to a life qualifying event, you need to come to the Business Office to apply.

If you want to apply for insurance during the open enrollment period, you can do this online. Not all students qualify for student insurance. Eligibility will be determined by UnitedHealthcare and your enrollment with the university.

At Watkins, we bill through “cycles.” When you receive a service, it takes about a week for the bill to be approved. It must first be double-checked by the provider and our medical coder. From there, if you do not have insurance, the cycle begins. If you do have insurance, the cycle does not begin until we receive information back from your insurance company. From the time the cycle begins you have 60 days to pay off the balance. In those 60 days, you will receive two email statements and be mailed two paper statements. If the balance is not paid within those 60 days, the balance becomes overdue. At that time, the amount is moved to your KU student account to be collected. This may prevent you from enrolling in classes or getting a copy of your transcript. To prevent issues with receiving statements, please ensure we have a current mailing address on file.

There are many ways you can pay your bill.

• You can pay directly through your patient portal
• You can pay online
• You can send checks or credit card information by mail to:
  
   Watkins Health Services
  
   1200 Schwegler Drive
  
    Lawrence, KS 66045
  
   *We do not suggest sending cash through the mail*
• You can come to the Business Office inside Watkins Health Services and pay with credit/debit card, check or cash
• You can call the Business Office at 785-864-9520 and pay with a credit/debit card over the phone

No, services provided by CAPS are not free. The typical appointment with a psychologist, with the Wellness Fee paid, is $15. Fees for an appointment with a psychiatrist range from $25-$40. These rates are significantly lower than you would receive elsewhere.

Because of HIPAA privacy laws, we are not able to bill the athletic department directly. If you have services that are to be covered by the athletic department, you need to stop by the Business Office and ask for a “Walk-Out Statement.” You can turn in this statement to your athletic trainer, who will send it to their accounting department to be paid. Keep in mind that it could be a month or more before the services are paid.