Which Ivy League School Is Best At Sports

All eight are in the top 20 for number of sports offered for both men and women among Division I schools. Unlike most Division I athletic conferences, the Ivy League prohibits the granting of athletic scholarships; all scholarships awarded are need-based . In addition, the Ivies have a rigid policy against redshirting, even for medical reasons; an athlete loses a year of eligibility for every year enrolled at an Ivy institution. Additionally, the Ivies prohibit graduate students from participating in intercollegiate athletics, even if they have remaining athletic eligibility.

The only exception to the ban on graduate students is that seniors graduating in 2021 are being allowed to play at their current institutions as graduate students in 2021–22. This was a one-time-only response to the Ivies shutting down most intercollegiate athletics in 2020–21 due to COVID-19. Ivy League teams' non-league games are often against the members of the Patriot League, which have similar academic standards and athletic scholarship policies . In particular, Princeton won 26 recognized national championships in college football , and Yale won 18 .

Both of these totals are considerably higher than those of other historically strong programs such as Alabama, which has won 13, Notre Dame, which has won 12, and USC, which has won 11. Yale, whose coach Walter Camp was the "Father of American Football," held on to its place as the all-time wins leader in college football throughout the entire 20th century, but was finally passed by Michigan on November 10, 2001. Currently Dartmouth holds the record for most Ivy League football titles, with 17. Both of these totals are considerably higher than those of other historically strong programs such as Alabama, which has won 15, Notre Dame, which claims 11 but is credited by many sources with 13, and USC, which has won 11. Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Penn each have over a dozen former scholar-athletes enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame.

Currently Dartmouth holds the record for most Ivy League football titles, with 18, followed closely by Harvard and Penn, each with 17 titles. In addition, the Ivy League has produced Super Bowl winners Kevin Boothe , two-time Pro Bowler Zak DeOssie , Sean Morey , All-Pro selection Matt Birk , Calvin Hill , Derrick Harmon and 1999 "Mr. Irrelevant" Jim Finn . Yale's placement in the Ivies is a tale of two extremes when it comes to different sports.

They finished in the top three for 11 of the 26 represented, but also in the bottom three for eight sports. Thus, according to the law of averages, they land smack in the middle of our rankings at No. 4 overall. When it comes to the big three college sports, Yale takes the top prize.

The Bulldogs have ranked first in basketball over the past five years , and second in football and baseball . But none of these have even been their best program as they have dominated men's lacrosse winning four out of the last five seasons. They are also the only team to have won an official NCAA championship in the last five years defeating Duke in 2018 before running it back to the finals the next year where they were runners-up to Virginia.

Unlike other universities on this list like Harvard or Princeton which see their women's program's outpace their men's, Yale sees the opposite effect. Men's sports have 14 Ivy titles compared to two for the women and they finish about one position higher on average for all respective sports. Keeping with the tale of two extremes, the women's lacrosse team has been the weakest of the Ivies the past five years. One would think that the success of men's and women's programs are correlated but this provides an interesting area for further exploration.

Yale actually has the most NCAA recognized championships in the Ivies but are heavily reliant on men's golf which account for 27 of them. After their loss to the Crimson in their last game of the season, Yale still leads the all-time series ( ) and might be considered the best football Ivy of all-time, but has only won four times in the last 20 years. But, as the Harvard case seems poised to inch its way to the Supreme Court, where a majority of justices could roll back affirmative action, it's worth considering how other admissions practices put a thumb on the scale for white students. Princeton tops the list for the best athletic Ivy of the past five years. In order to land themselves at the top, the Tigers both dominate certain sports and are consistently solid across all others.

They ranked at least fifth or higher out of the eight Ivies in all but one sport as they will rarely be found at the bottom of the conference standing list. Princeton has been the absolute leader of the Ivies in men's indoor track each of the last five years and women's tennis, lacrosse, and volleyball for four of the last five years. When it comes to the big two, Princeton has also been solid winning the Ivies twice in football and once in basketball where they missed a last second go-ahead three in the first round of the NCAA tournament to Notre Dame. Women's lacrosse had three NCAA quarterfinal appearances and soccer had one. The 2019 field hockey squad were the NCAA runner-ups to current three-time reigning champion University of North Carolina. Over the past five years, Princeton has won 42 total Ivy championships out of the possible 130 .

That is about 2.5 times as much as we would expect an Ivy to win if all were equal . Princeton also has the biggest discrepancy between its men's and women's program with 15 Ivy men's titles and 27 for women's and more than a point separating their average standing placement. In addition, over the history of the Ivy League Princeton leads the pack with 476 league championships and 24 national NCAA championships. It is not much of a debate that the Princeton Tigers are the powerhouse athletic program of the Ivy League and can contend on a national level.

Indian student athletes have an edge on games like tennis, golf, field hockey and squash. There are many universities that recruit athletes for these individual and team sports. The National Collegiate Athletics Association , which governs university sports teams, usually divides universities into Division I, II and III depending on the level of scholarship offered by each university. Ivy League universities do not provide sports scholarships, but still admit sportspersons, and if required, give financial aid depending on family incomes also known as need based scholarships.

Although this group of elite schools is considered to be part of one big league of the elite, there have been plenty of internal rivalries over the years. Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania have been longtime basketball rivals. Cornell and Harvard have been hockey rivals for many years, and Harvard and Penn have beenlong time football rivals. Many other Ivy League schools have had serious sports rivalries as well.

The Yale and Princeton rivalry is considered the country's second-oldest college rivalry behind Lehigh University and Lafayette College. The sports that these colleges play were so popular that some teams began playing games in New York City so spectators could come from far away and watch the games. The popularity of both the athletes who played and the college team rivalries brought in a good deal of attention to the schools as well as revenue from ticket sales. Mostly, these rivalries are a matter of opinion in terms of which school has the most honor graduates, which schools offer the most prestigious scholarships, and what famous graduates have come from each school.

Summary – Ivy Coaches cannot guarantee you admission and do not make admissions decisions – admission personnel make these decisions. While a coach may tell you that you will get in, there are cases where S-A's are denied admission by the admissions board after a coach has extended a verbal offer. This sometimes happens when a new admissions director or athletic director is hired or the school got some bad publicity with other S-A's and is trying to avoid accepting future players that may struggle academically. In most cases, if a coach extends a verbal offer to you, your credentials have been reviewed by admissions and the coach has received the OK to extend an offer.

Rarely will a coach extend an offer before your information is reviewed by the admissions department, but this obviously doesn't mean you are guaranteed admission. Recruiting at the Ivy League is fierce business and while all Ivy Schools are top academic institutions, they take their athletics very seriously. Because admission spots are so precious and there is no NLI program, Ivy coaches will compete very hard for the same athletes and will often pressure you to apply early or to give a verbal offer. If you are a talented athlete and a gifted academic student, then you can increase your chances of being accepted to an Ivy school provided that you are ready to commit.

Perhaps the most compelling reason for reducing varsity teams at colleges may simply be the lack of visibility of certain sports. When is the last time you watched a collegiate women's squash finals or a college wrestling championship? Even the Olympics are eliminating wrestling as an event, so why should the sport continue in the Ivies?

Certainly, high-profile sports will continue to flourish at universities. Unquestionably, students who play sports that generate buzz and revenue for a particular school will continue to be afforded admissions advantages. However, student athletes who play less popular sports may well find that sport losing viability. Generally, athletes choose universities according to what they aspire to do after completing their education.

They choose a top sporting university (according to the division they are in the NCAA — generally D1 colleges are the most superior, then come D2 and so on) if they wish to compete with the best teams in the collegiate circuit. Such a university is more likely to offer a sports scholarship depending on the students'sporting talent. However, those who plan to use their degree to find a relevant job after graduating, choose a university on the basis of its academic offerings. Some student athletes with a strong academic record and national ranks in sports can choose the best of both worlds.

Although the term Ivy League was first used in sports news reporting in the 1930s, it wasn't until 1945 that the Ivy League schools got together to formulate athletic policies related to player eligibility, budgets and play season length. The athletic league was formed to create well-rounded students by promoting academic and athletic excellence. Ivy League athletes have always been held to the same athletic standards as their non-athletic peers and do not receive athletic scholarships. The Ivy League school athletic teams gain their reputations from playing in Division I sports conferences. Across all 26 sports, they finished with an average ranking of sixth and only have one Ivy title in the past five years courtesy of women's soccer in 2019.

That 2019 team went in Ivy League play and finished the season ranked No. 23 nationally. This year's team improved on that going undefeated in conference play to win back-to-back Ivy League titles and finished ranked No. 16 in the country. Outside of that, the Bears only finished in the top half of the standings in three of the total 26 sports. Joining Dartmouth in summer 2020, Brown announced that they would be cutting 11 Varsity sports in the name of "streamlining resources to make their programs more competitive". Prior to the announcement, Brown fielded the third most collegiate teams and claimed a "data-driven" approach led them to cut some programs. Brown has 7 all-time NCAA championships (all women's rowing) and 123 Ivy League championships .

Penn comes in at No. 3 so it is no surprise that they consistently finish in the middle of the pack for most Ivy sports. The Quakers don't dominate any Ivy polls but are never at the bottom. They don't rank last in any of the sports over the past five years and only seventh in men's golf and women's volleyball. But on the same token, they only have two first place rankings in men's cross country and women's basketball. The success of their women's basketball team has only started this decade as they had just three Ivy titles before and have won four since 2010. This year's preseason poll has them at No. 2 behind their Ivy rivals in Princeton.

Are Ivy League Schools Good At Sports Their male counterparts have also been solid, winning the Ivies in 2018 where they would lose in the first round of March Madness to No. 1 seed powerhouse Kansas. They have the second most NCAA tournament bids all-time at 24, just one shy of Princeton. Quaker football has also finished in the top half of the standings for the past five years and were co-Ivy champions in 2015 and 2016. Penn ranks fourth in both all-time Ivy championships and over the last five years .

The reason they finish third in our standings overall is their consistency across a range of sports for an average finish of 3.87. Yale has just slightly more overall titles over the past five years but has a lower average standing at 4.31. The Quakers also have the most minimal discrepancy between their men's and women's teams with only a .03 difference between average finishing place. Penn's perfected the model of consistency which has landed them third in our rankings. Similar to our previous article looking at Power 5 schools, we apply the same approach to creating our Ivy League rankings.

Despite not selling out their football stadiums or having large athletic merchandise sales, Ivy League schools actually field some of the most athletic teams in terms of sheer number due to their large endowments . Harvard has the most Division 1 teams in the entire country with 42. For our analysis, we looked at 13 sports in each of men's and women's to give a complete picture of the all-around success of each athletic program. We restricted our analysis to the past five years due to lack of data from prior years and to paint a more accurate picture of the current state of the programs. Only including one year would be too small of a sample size while looking at all of history would favor certain schools over others. Certain Ivies do offer other programs but not all eight had them so they were excluded from the analysis.

For example, Harvard, Princeton, and Brown all have men's water polo programs but they compete in the Northeast Water Polo Conference. Columbia might have the most "volatility" throughout their polls as they can jump from the bottom to the top of the standings in any given year and also fall down. Similar to Yale, the majority of their program success has leaned towards the men's side with nine Ivy titles and an average finish of fourth compared to three titles and an average finish of fifth for the women. The Lions have carved out a niche in some select sports ranking first in baseball, men's tennis, and women's cross country. The tennis program has not dropped an Ivy title since 2013 and only lost two conference matches out of the last 42.

Their dominance might fly under the radar but Columbia has consistently been ranked Top 20 nationally for the past five years. Tennis is also one of the strongest sports for the Ivy League on a national level with at least three Ivies being ranked in the Top 20 recruiting classes the past five years. Columbia ranks last in Ivy League championships but third in official NCAA championships .

The Lions could be a potential predator to jump the list in future years with several programs on the upswing. These universities have the largest student populations, the biggest budgets, and the most scholarships available. All of the major collegiate sports conferences (SEC, Big 10, Pacific-12, and ACC) are DI. Ivy League schools are also DI, but do not offer athletic scholarships due to a binding agreement among themselves. Each Ivy League college has its own unique accomplishments that make it important. All carry a certain reputation with them, and each school has programs that excel primarily in the medical and law fields, making them some of the most sought-after schools in the world.

Their admissions process is very selective, which helps the schools ensure that they only accept the best and brightest. Many famous people have graduated from Ivy League schools, including recent presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama. This prestige leads many to believe that these colleges are only for the wealthy and elite. Often, companies look for Ivy League graduates as potential employees, usually preferred by law firms, medical facilities, and large corporations. It has long been coveted to have earned a degree from an Ivy League school.

Today, there are other competitors that some claim to be just as good as their Ivy counterparts. Some of these well-known schools include Duke University, Johns Hopkins, MIT, Vanderbilt, and Georgetown University, to name a few. The Ivy League schools are still excellent in both academia and in sports, and they have left a legacy of higher education with an exceptional track record and reputation to go along with them. Ivy Leagues do not offer athletic scholarships to their students. Students with strong athletic histories are more likely to gain admission to the schools, and once they do, they are eligible for financial aid equaling 100% of their demonstrated financial need.

Nonathletes with similar or slightly better academic credentials are less likely to be accepted into an Ivy League school than aspiring student athletes. The eight Ivy league schools offer an early admissions program, but five out of the eight have binding early decision programs that require students who apply early to commit to attend if they are accepted. The other three Ivy League schools have non-binding early action programs that allow students to apply to other colleges even if they are admitted early.

How To Lose 30 Kg In 15 Days

Empty Message

Where Is The Policy Number Located On Anthem Insurance Card

Each person covered by a health insurance plan has a unique ID number that allows healthcare providers and their staff to verify coverage and arrange payment for services. It's also the number health insurers use to look up specific members and answer questions about claims and benefits. If you're the policyholder, the last two digits in your number might be 00, while others on the policy might have numbers ending in 01, 02, etc. Many health insurance cards show the amount you will pay (your out-of-pocket costs) for common visits to your primary care physician , specialists, urgent care, and the emergency department. If you see two numbers, the first is your cost when you see an in-network provider, and the second—usually higher—is your cost when you see an out-of-network provider.

For example, when you're referred to a specific specialist or sent to a specific hospital, they may not be in your insurer's network. Coverage determinations are made on a case-by-case basis and are subject to all of the terms, conditions, limitations, and exclusions of the Member's contract, including medical necessity requirements. Health Net may use the Policies to determine whether, under the facts and circumstances of a particular case, the proposed procedure, drug, service, or supply is medically necessary. The conclusion that a procedure, drug, service, or supply is medically necessary does not constitute coverage. The Member's contract defines which procedure, drug, service, or supply is covered, excluded, limited, or subject to dollar caps.

The policy provides for clearly written, reasonable and current criteria that have been approved by Health Net's National Medical Advisory Council . The clinical criteria and medical policies provide guidelines for determining the medical necessity criteria for specific procedures, equipment and services. In order to be eligible, all services must be medically necessary and otherwise defined in the Member's benefits contract as described in this "Important Notice" disclaimer. In all cases, final benefit determinations are based on the applicable contract language.

To the extent there are any conflicts between medical policy guidelines and applicable contract language, the contract language prevails. Medical policy is not intended to override the policy that defines the Member's benefits, nor is it intended to dictate to providers how to practice medicine. If you do not see your coverage amounts and co-pays on your health insurance card, call your insurance company . Ask what your coverage amounts and co-pays are, and find out if you have different amounts and co-pays for different doctors and other health care providers.

Where Is Policy Number On Insurance Card Anthem Under the last-month rule, if you are an eligible individual on the first day of the last month of your tax year , you are considered an eligible individual for the entire year. You are treated as having the same high-deductible health plan coverage for the entire year as you had on the first day of that last month. The total contribution for the year can be made in one or more payments at any time up to your tax-filing deadline . However, if you wish to have a contribution made between January 1 and April 15 treated as a contribution for the preceding tax year, please contact the HSA bank.

If you're an HMO member, you will need to receive services from an in-network HMO provider. However, you will be able to receive emergency or urgent care services no matter where you are. For details about your coverage, please review your Blue KC certificate, which outlines the benefits and exclusions related to your health insurance plan. You can view your certificate by logging in and accessing the Plan Benefit section.

Allowable charges are the maximum amount payable to you under your health insurance plan for a particular service. Contracted providers have agreed to accept this amount as payment in full. For example, if the provider charges $100 for a service and Blue KC pays $80 as the allowable charge, the provider cannot ask the member to pay the remaining $20. Keep in mind, however, that some health insurance plans have coinsurance. In those cases, members are required to pay a percentage of the allowable charge. For specific details about your plan, review your Blue KC certificate, which outlines your payment responsibility.

There are two times you can make a change to your enrollment options. Your employer schedules an open enrollment period once a calendar year when all employees may make changes to their health insurance plan. You may also make a change during a special enrollment period if you acquire a new dependent or if your coverage is terminated under another health insurance plan. If you have health insurance through an employer, your group benefits administrator, typically someone in your Human Resources department, can help you make changes to your health insurance plan. If you do not have health insurance through an employer and instead pay your monthly premiums directly to Blue KC, call the Customer Service number listed on your member ID card. Finally, you might see a dollar amount, such as $10 or $25.

This is usually the amount of your co-payment, or "co-pay." A co-pay is a set amount you pay for a certain type of care or medicine. Some health insurance plans do not have co-pays, but many do. If you see several dollar amounts, they might be for different types of care, such as office visits, specialty care, urgent care, and emergency room care. If you see 2 different amounts, you might have different co-pays for doctors in your insurance company's network and outside the network. Once funds are deposited into your HSA, those funds can be used to pay for qualified medical expenses tax-free, even if you no longer have high-deductible health plan coverage.

The funds in your account automatically roll over each year and remain in the account indefinitely until used. Once you discontinue coverage under a high-deductible health plan and/or get coverage under another health plan that disqualifies you from an HSA, you can no longer make contributions to your HSA. However, since you own the HSA, you can continue to use it for future qualified medical expenses.

To enroll in a high-deductible health plan, complete the Blue KC application process. The Blue-Saver® PPO health insurance plan is a high-deductible health plan that allows you to establish an HSA as part of your health benefits. When you enroll in the Blue Saver plan, you may be offered the opportunity to establish a HSA with one of our preferred banks. You will be presented with appropriate banking authorizations and disclosures necessary for Blue KC to work with the bank that will establish your HSA. Once your HSA has been established, you will be mailed a welcome kit and HSA debit card from the bank. For non-emergencies, some HMO plans allow you to get health care services from a Blue Cross and Blue Shield-affiliated doctor or hospital when you are traveling outside of Illinois.

If you aren't sure, contact customer service at the number listed on your member ID card before you go. And always remember to carry your current BCBSIL member ID card. It contains helpful information for accessing health care at home or away. You cannot use HSA funds to pay for qualified medical expenses incurred before you enrolled in a high-deductible health plan. In order to establish an HSA, you must enroll in a high-deductible health plan. Your eligibility to contribute to an HSA is determined by the effective date of your high-deductible health plan coverage.

A Health Savings Account allows members enrolled in a qualified high-deductible health plan to contribute funds on a tax-free basis into the member's account. A member's employer may also contribute funds to the account. These funds are used for payment of qualified medical expenses as defined by the IRS. Unused funds in an HSA roll over in the member's account at the end of each calendar year.

To change a PCP, log in and visit you Profile by clicking on the icon by your name in the top right corner of your homepage. In the Coverage Information section you'll see a list of covered members for your Blue KC policy. From here select "Change PCP" for the appropriate member and you can search for and designate a new PCP. Once we have processed your PCP change request, we will send you a new member ID card that contains the information of your newly selected PCP.

You may also call the Customer Service number listed on your member ID card to change your PCP. Please note that if you have health insurance through your employer, you may be required to contact your group benefits administrator to change your PCP. This plan combines traditional medical coverage with a Health Savings Account .

Under this plan, all covered services (except preventive services/prescriptions) are subject to the annual deductible. The deductible is a dollar amount of out-of-pocket costs you must pay each year before the plan will begin paying its share of your healthcare expenses. The nice thing about this plan is that you can pay for that deductible using the tax-free funds in your HSA.

Once the deductible has been met, most in-network services are covered with a 20% coinsurance. If you are already seeing a specialist for your condition, make sure your doctor is in your plan's network. If the doctor is not in your plan's network, you will pay more in most cases. Also make sure your specialist uses providers and facilities in your plan's network when sending you for other services or hospitalization.

If you have any questions, call us at the customer service number listed on your member ID card. If you are looking for a doctor for your chronic condition, you can use theProvider Finder tool. Click on "Network Type" at the top and select the name of your HMO plan to see a list of doctors and hospitals in your plan's network. You can continue to use the funds in your account tax-free for out-of-pocket health expenses. If you enroll in Medicare, you can use your account to pay Medicare premiums, deductibles, copayments and coinsurance under any part of Medicare.

If you have retiree health benefits through your former employer, you can also use your account to pay for your share of retiree medical insurance premiums. The one expense you cannot use your account for is to purchase a Medicare supplement insurance or "Medigap" policy. A qualified health-deductible health plan is a health plan with an annual deductible for an individual or a family that meet the minimum deductible amount published annually by the U.S. The annual out-of-pocket expenses required by the high-deductible health plan also does not exceed the out-of-pocket maximums published by the U.S. Out-of-pocket expenses include deductibles, copayments and other amounts the member must pay for, but do not include premiums or amounts incurred for non-covered benefits.

Each payment you make for covered healthcare services you've received from your providers such as a physical exam counts toward your deductible. Once Blue KC processes the claims we receive from your providers showing the payments that you have made for covered healthcare services, we apply those payments toward your deductible. A deductible is the amount that you are responsible for paying annually for healthcare services. Exceptions are outlined in your Blue KC certificate, which lists the exclusions related to your health insurance plan. Your children's coverage while they are away from home depends on the type of health insurance plan you have. If you have health insurance through your employer, check with your group benefits administrator for more information.

Your insurance company may provide out-of-area coverage through a different health care provider network. If so, the name of that network will likely be on your insurance card. This is the network you'll want to seek out if you need access to healthcare while you're away on vacation, or out of town on a business trip. If you lose your health insurance card with your policy and group number on it, it is important to contact your health insurance company right away and let them know. Call your insurance provider's customer service number and a representative should be able to help you.

Your health insurance policy number is typically your member ID number. This number is usually located on your health insurance card so it is easily accessible and your health care provider can use it to verify your coverage and eligibility. Beginning in 2013, Anthem Blue Cross became the behavioral health provider for Anthem HMO and PPO plans. If you are enrolled in one of these Anthem plans, you do not need a referral from your primary care physician in order to receive mental health services. Visit Anthem's website at /ca for a list of behavioral health providers.

Your health insurance company might pay for some or all the cost of prescription medicines. If so, you might see an Rx symbol on your health insurance card. But not all cards have this symbol, even if your health insurance pays for prescriptions. Sometimes, the Rx symbol has dollar or percent amounts next to it, showing what you or your insurance company will pay for prescriptions.

If you have health insurance through your employer, check with your group benefits administrator to have a dependent added to your plan. He or she has the information and/or forms you need to add your dependent to your health insurance plan. Show your ID card every time you visit the doctor, pharmacy, hospital, or any other healthcare provider.

Healthcare providers can use your member ID number to review your benefits, and can let you know if you owe any copayments at the time of your visit. You might see another list with 2 different percent amounts. The back or bottom of your health insurance card usually has contact information for the insurance company, such as a phone number, address, and website.

This information is important when you need to check your benefits or get other information. For example, you might need to call to check your benefits for a certain treatment, send a letter to your insurance company, or find information on the website. If you have health insurance through work, your insurance card probably has a group plan number.

The insurance company uses this number to identify your employer's health insurance policy. If you forget or aren't sure what type of health insurance plan you have , you can find out on your BCBS ID card. If you have an HMO, your card may also list the physician or group you've selected for primary care. Determining whether a provider is in-network is an important part of choosing a primary care physician. Centura Health accepts and bills most major insurance companies as a source of payment.

However, some of their benefit plans do not cover treatment at some Centura Health locations. It is recommended that you contact your insurance company directly if you have any questions about coverage at a Centura Health location. Routine Preventive care is a care benefit that is not subject to a deductible. A copayment, or copay, is the dollar amount that you pay to a provider at the time you receive a service. For example, you might pay a $30 copay each time you visit your allergy doctor. The copay amount is defined in your Blue KC certificate, which outlines your responsibilities for health insurance plan payments.

When you elect the Anthem PPO HDHP, you are also eligible to elect a Health Savings Account , a special tax-advantaged bank account to help cover your out-of-pocket healthcare costs. The descriptions below apply to most private health insurance ID cards in the United States. If you live outside the U.S. or have government-provided insurance, you may see some different fields on your card. If you have family members listed as dependents on your health insurance plan, they may each have their own unique policy number as it is used for identification purposes and billing procedures. Your health insurance policy number is what identifies you as a covered individual under your current or previous plans. It's important because if you change jobs or get married, divorced, etc., then your HIPN will need to match the new situation.

If you move out of state, your HIPN needs to reflect where you live now. Your first premium payment activates your coverage, so you can start using your health plan within 1–2 days of making your payment, depending on how you pay. After you've made your first payment and your coverage is activated, you can have health care expenses during that coverage gap applied to your deductible, or even get paid back for some services. In this case, the coverage gap would be the time between your requested effective date and the date you make your first payment. The "coverage amount" tells you how much of your treatment costs the insurance company will pay. This information might be on the front of your insurance card.