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Dear Ithaca College Students, Families and Other Supporters,

We recently shared a message to notify you about some updates to services provided by Cayuga Health at Ithaca College, including some changes to insurance billing, for the coming 2024-25 academic year.

We understand that this message may have caused confusion for some students and their families/supporters regarding how these updates will affect services provided by the college’s Center for Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS). Please note that the changes with Cayuga Health at Ithaca College will not impact the services provided by CAPS, as Cayuga Student Health Services and CAPS are two separate entities. Mental health services provided by CAPS continue to remain free and confidential for students and will not be billed through an insurance provider. Students seeking mental health services are strongly encouraged to utilize the resources offered by CAPS as a primary means of mental health support.

If you have any questions about mental health support services for students, please feel free to call CAPS at 607-274-3136 during regular business hours (Monday through Thursday during the summer). As always, the after-hours crisis service, also not billed to insurance, can be accessed by calling 607-274-3136 and selecting option #5.

The insurance billing process changes mentioned in our initial message only refers to services provided by our Cayuga Student Health Services team. Pertaining to mental health, this includes visits with our medical providers, as well as the Cayuga Student Health Services social worker and psychiatrist. Please note that students were already being billed through insurance for prescription medications related to mental health.

We also received some outreach regarding insurance billing regarding sexual health visits. For clarification, Cayuga Student Health Services already billed through insurance for some sexual health related services including orders for prescription medications. The change in the billing process mentioned in our initial message is now expanded to include clinical office visits for sexual health, including visits to receive lab testing.

For students utilizing insurance coverage under a parent’s plan concerned about how the insurance billing process can compromise confidentiality for mental and sexual health related visits, please know that while a "code" is used to bill insurance, no confidential personal health information is shared with the insurance subscriber. As is the case with all services received at Cayuga Student Health Services, students also have the option to utilize self pay to cover the full cost of services to forgo the insurance billing process.

For those interested in exploring alternative resources in the greater Ithaca area, some local options include the Ithaca affiliate of Planned Parenthood and the Ithaca Free Clinic.

We apologize for any confusion and concern that our initial message may have caused. As always, Ithaca College remains committed to providing our students with a high-quality health care experience on campus.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Metzgar, FNP
Director, Student Health Services – Cayuga Health at Ithaca College

Bonnie Solt Prunty
Vice President for Student Affairs and Campus Life