• 21
  Oct
  2009

• Health care reform and university coverage

  
  Filed Under: Health Insurance
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University provided international student medical insurance covered students in 71 percent of four-year private universities, 82 percent of four-year public institutions and 29 percent of two-year public colleges during the 2007-2008 academic year, according to a March 2008 Government Accountability Office report. With the new provisions in the health care reform bill, all that is set to change - claims Lookout Mountain Group — a non-partisan study group that examines the impact of the bill and other reforms on students.

The students community, it seems, has been completely ignored, and this might have some adverse effects. All those who received low-cost insurance options through the university might now need to either buy a high risk (read costlier) policy or take the bigger risk of living without insurance, the group spokespersons explain.

The people responsible for formulating the bill seem to be concentrating only on employer and individual schemes, and ignoring students. Many student bodies are getting in touch with their senators, and expressing their concern on this omission, and the senators are being asked to help make some changes to include this very important and vastly uninsured demographic in the reforms.

Here's hoping that these voices will be heard, and some positives changes will be made.