The Health Center announced last week it will switch insurance providers this summer, a move that will provide students with money to spend on physical examinations and immunizations, including partial reimbursement for the human papillomavirus vaccine.When the current insurance provider, MegaLife Insurance, which currently covers approximately 600 undergraduates and 900 graduate students, went up for renewal last week, administrators decided to switch to Harvard Pilgrim. This company offers a lower premium cost, and with added packages, the total cost of the plan for students will be the same as under MegaLife Insurance, Health Center Administrator Kathleen Maloney said. The move becomes official August 15.

The premium cost for this academic year was $1,475, but next year's cost is still being negotiated between the Health Center and Harvard Pilgrim, Maloney said, adding that it will be less than this year's premium.

Gardasil, the HPV vaccine developed by the drug company Merck, is not currently covered by the University's insurance, but has been available at the Health Center since October for $375 in total, or $125 for each of the three injections, Maloney said. But starting next semester, students covered by Harvard Pilgrim will pay the full cost, and the Health Center will provide them with reimbursement information. Students will then receive 80 percent of the money back-$300, or $100 per injection.

"We give all students all the coding information they need to get reimbursed," Maloney said. Students with private insurance are given a receipt to obtain reimbursement from their insurance companies.

The human papillomavirus has been linked to cervical cancer in women age 18 to 26. According to Merck's Web site, over 80 percent of women become HPV-positive by the time they are 50. The vaccine protects women against four different HPV strains.

Initially, Maloney said she was concerned that by covering Gardasil, the plan's cost to students could rise significantly. "The reason you can contain the cost [of the health insurance plans] is that they're very, very basic," Maloney said last March.

But she acknowledged that she became increasingly aware of the need to replace the general wellness plan from MegaLife Insurance with a health and wellness plan due to the ongoing student push for coverage of the HPV vaccine.

"The general wellness plans have been a concern of students on school insurance plans for some time," Maloney added.

Vicky, Joanna and Sara Bedell, triplets in the Class of 2009, started a petition and gathered over 900 student signatures this year in support of adding coverage of the vaccine to the Univerity's insurance plan, Vicky said.

The sisters said they are pleased with the outcome of the insurance negotiations. "I didn't expect it to be this good," Vicky said.