The investigation, which included only health insurance agencies that sell plans to New York students or New York residents attending school out of state, discovered many coverage plans exclude coverage for alcohol-related injuries. These plans also work with health insurance brokers that make contributions to schools and offer insufficient coverage, among other issues. Some coverage plans cap per-illness spending at $1,000 to $2,500.

SU’s Aetna student plan currently covers 100 percent of cover services performed at SU Health Services, but — as Cuomo’s report found — does not cover injuries from alcohol. In addition, SU’s servicing provider, Haylor, Freyer and Coon, Inc., was one of the five insurance brokers Cuomo subpoenaed.

Cuomo sent out a letter April 6 to more than 300 college presidents in the nation alerting them of his investigation that subpoenaed 10 of the largest student insurers and five insurance agents, brokers and consultants.

“Given the cost of even simple surgeries and the compounding costs of a single serious illness, these caps are simply too low to protect students against the risk of becoming seriously ill,” the letter sent to colleges said.

Suggestions to improve student coverage include adding preventative care and eliminating monetary caps per injury or illness, Cuomo’s letter said.

SU currently has two insurance plans. Aetna Student Health underwrites the $2,537 domestic student plan, and HTH Worldwide underwrites the $1,155 international student plan. The vast majority of SU students are not required to carry health insurance.

HFC, SU’s service provider, is responsible for providing the university with quotes from various insurance companies on an annual basis, said Kevin Morrow, a university spokesman.

“HFC has been very supportive of our students, and the university has maintained a good working relationship with the company,” Morrow said.

Thomas Palmer, vice president of the collegiate division of HFC, said the company was not ashamed of being subpoenaed in February 2009.

Cuomo’s office requested all files, documents and proposals from the preceding seven years. HFC sent off 14 boxes of material to the attorney general’s office in early March 2009, Palmer said. He has not heard any comments or criticisms back from Cuomo and is not surprised, he said.

“I’m rather proud of the fact that the attorney general office recognized that we’re one of the leading agents in New York state,” Palmer said. “That he wanted to look through our files for his background informational investigation.”

Palmer said the Aetna insurance was a ‘quality plan’ that was a fraction of what students would have to pay in a community-rated program or as a dependent, $300 or $400 a month. HFC currently has about 800 SU undergraduate students insured with Aetna, Palmer said. He estimated there were close to 2,000 on the SU campus without health insurance.

“Between 18 and 28 percent of any college population does not have other sources of health insurance when they arrive on campus,” Palmer said.

The health care bill passed in March requires loss ratios to be at 85 percent. A loss ratio is the ratio of money an insurance company pays out in claims compared with the amount of money it receives.

Most of the carriers that HFC have target loss ratios in the mid-70 percentile areas, Palmer said. Current regulation by New York’s Insurance Department is a minimum loss ratio of a 65 percent for blanket student health plans.

“This organization has a very high standard of not just service, but also ethics and honors here,” Palmer said. “We always, always, strive to do our very best for our clients, be it the university client or the students. Ultimately, our clients are the students that participate with our programs.”