Law School Health Insurance Policy- Unconscionable?

My law school requires that each student be covered by health insurance.
In light of this requirement, students are automatically enrolled in an insurance program of the school's choosing (we will call it "Insurance A"). The school automatically deducts the payment for this insurance from the student refund checks that come in through financial aid. If a student has or obtains coverage by another Insurance Agency, then he/she must waive the automatic coverage by a certain date. To waive the insurance, students must provide proof of their alternate insurance by showing their insurance card and plan coverage. Students have roughly ten days from the start of classes to waive the coverage. Insurance A's coverage goes from August 15-August 14 of the following year.

During my first year of law school, I was covered by Insurance A, but I never used it. When I made a doctor's appointment in my home state, they never heard of the insurance, so I paid for the visit. Insurance A is not a widely-known agency, and in fact is disfavored by some medical institutions. Due to this fact, I decided to apply to "Insurance B," a widely recognized Insurance Company. During the summer of 2006, I was taken through a somewhat drawn-out application process, as all of my medical records had to be located. I also had an illness which delayed my approval. However, I was approved before the deadline to waive my school's insurance policy. I was not to receive my card, however, for another few weeks. I was unable to provide my school with my Insurance Card, and I got the "run-around" from administrator's who claimed that they could not help me without having my actual card in hand. So I had to wait until I received the card to pursue waiving Insurance A. By the time I received my card, the deadline for waiving Insurance A had past, and my school's contacts for dealing with the matter were not very accessible, as one was on vacation.

I had sent emails asking what needed to be done- but I was told that it was too late to waive the insurance. I explained the circumstances, and that I could not have had the card before the deadline, which was out of my control. I was then told to wait until this semester, which is the second semester of the year, and try to waive the remainder then. I was then given a completely new contact and I was told to email her and attempt to waive the second half. This new contact informed me that there was no way for me to waive a portion, nor was there a way for me to waive my coverage at all at this point.

I have become extremely fed up with getting the run around, and being informed that "there is nothing that I can do at this point." Basically, Insurance A is gaining, at a minimum, $800 or more this year for providing me with no services. I have been covered since August by Insurance B, and have used solely Insurance B on multiple occassions throughout the semester. I have never once used Insurance A, but was still unable to waive it because of an arbitrary "deadline." I have letters from Insurance B proving that either my insurance was pending or approved dating back to August. To make matters worse, since I am not voluntarily paying for Insurance A, and instead it is automatically deducted from my loan refund, I am not only losing the COST of the Insurance itself, but I will also have to pay INTEREST on that amount because it is in the way of a LOAN! The school should just refund the money to me, so I can pay my OWN insurance with my own money and not even touch the money that the loan gives to me.

What my school is doing is highly unethical, and I would like to know what, if any, legal remedies might be available to me. I am going to contact Insurance A on my own to try to resolve the issue directly, but if they tell me that "it is too late," what are my options???

I certainly don't have the money to throw down the tubes, and that is ALL that is happening here. Please help!!!

WLD emailed you privately