A new health insurance plan program to students.

A new health insurance plan available to students this fall will consolidate three previous plans and provide extended coverage.

The new plan is available to students taking at least three credits and graduate students taking at least one credit, according to a press release issued by Penn State University Health Services.

The plan will cover the requirements and preventive services from UHS to 100 percent with no deductible expense.

Offered through Aetna Student Health insurance, the new plan will cost $ 2,137 for the school year, Head of Student Health Insurance at Penn State Karen Kline said.

Coverage will last from August 10 to August 9, 2013, Kline said. The deadline for registration is September 11 fall.

Kline said the coverage is also available for personal fall and spring semesters.

"It is our mission to provide health care services affordable for college students," Aetna spokesman Matt Wiggin said, adding that the health of students is important for academic success.

Wiggin said that the health care plan runs so students throughout the year traveling the United States or at home for the summer will have access to the Aetna network, available in all 50 states with over a million providers. Coverage options are available for students traveling abroad.

"This plan takes honestly get rid of all the problems I had in the past with our health plans for students, and I think it's only going to be a step above [the old plan] for all our students with what we 'intend to be their supply, "said Kline.

Previously, students were not covered for two office visits on the same day, Kline said. This has created problems for students who needed to see their doctor and a specialist.

Previously, there was a limit of $ 20,000 of coverage for life in-flight services, which often leave students in debt since it costs about $ 17,000 "just to get the helicopter off the ground," said Kline. Additional life-saving services provided in the air regularly put the total cost of over $ 20,000.

With the new plan, students are covered for physicians in a single day, and there is no cap to cover the cost of these services, Kline said.

"We worked closely with the school to tailor a plan," said Wiggin. "We work closely with health centers for the care of the campus and our network of providers."

The new health care plan is expected to meet all the requirements of the Affordable Care Act 2014, according to the press.

"This plan is a fantastic plan. Students who enroll in it are going to have the coverage that is required by the 2014 health care reform," said Kline. "It 's time available.