***For the official press release from the University of Maryland, click Students Now Required to Have Health Insurance
***
(Media-Newswire.com) - COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Students starting classes for the first time at the University of Maryland this semester must have health insurance, thanks to a new policy designed to limit students' financial liability and keep them in school when faced with a health emergency.
All incoming freshmen and transfer students had to provide proof of insurance by July 31 or purchase coverage through the university's student health insurance plan to enroll for the fall semester that begins Monday. Maryland officials say they made the move to ensure students can afford health care and their education.
"There are occasions where students drop out because they have to go work to pay their medical bills," says Dr. Gail Lee, clinical director at the University Health Center. "People without health insurance tend to let problems get really serious before they see someone. Now, if patients are sick and they really need a specialist, we know that they can see one."
The university has offered optional insurance for at least a dozen years, but Maryland is among a growing number of post-secondary schools now mandating student coverage. A federal study estimated that 30 percent of colleges nationwide required health insurance in the 2007-2008 school year, while half offered their own coverage.
The American College Health Association urges universities to require insurance and offer "adequate and appropriate" plans that cover preventive health services, coverage for catastrophic illness or injury, prescription medications, and coverage for dependents of covered students.
Dr. James Turner, president of the association's board of directors, says college insurance plans have their roots in health coverage for student athletes and those who participated in other extracurricular activities. Today's plans help both students and schools minimize their risk.
"I hear of more and more schools requiring it," says Turner, executive director of student health at the University of Virginia. "Fundamentally, it comes down to risk management. We generally deal with a very healthy population. But more and more non-traditional-aged students are coming to our campuses, often with pre-existing medical conditions."
And in a down economy, more students may be coming to college without insurance through their parents, part-time jobs or other private sources. While Maryland's mandate coincides with the national debate over health insurance reform, Lee says the university has been working toward universal coverage for students for several years. Health Center officials compiled statistics on student health insurance needs and presented their case for a requirement to various campus governmental bodies and administrators before winning approval.
Incoming freshmen and their parents were notified of the new policy in multiple publications, at orientation session and by e-mail. Lee could not say how many students did not complete the necessary health insurance form by the deadline; anyone who did not was automatically enrolled in the university's plan at an annual cost of $1,168, which can be covered by financial aid for those qualify.
Lee says the coverage, provided by United HealthCare, is comparable to the best coverage offered to state employees and reasonably priced." Students who did not want to buy into Maryland's plan could buy individual plans on the open market before the deadline.
About 5.5 percent of American college students were uninsured in Fall 2008, which compared favorably to about 16 percent for adults nationwide. For college health officials, however, one student in crisis is one too many.
Turner recalled an international student at his university, which has required coverage since 1969, who stepped off of an airplane and into a hospital to be treated for a detached retina. He faced a bill of $17,000 before classes even started. Another couple covered by the University of Virginia's policy would have faced $300,000 in medical bills for their pre-mature twins had they not been insured.
"Students don't realize the risks of being uninsured or underinsured," Turner says.
Maryland's plan is also available as an option to upperclassmen. They can enroll at the start of each semester to supplement private coverage that may not cover doctors in the Washington, D.C., region or limits certain types of care. Lee says students whose families suddenly lose coverage or who become too old for their parents' policies may enroll at any time during the year, as long as it is within 30 days of the change.
"People need health insurance," she says. "Having an illness can be devastating financially. We don't want that to happen to our students."
For more on the new requirement and Maryland's student health insurance plan, visit the official University of Maryland page.
Source: Media-Newswire.com
No comments:
Post a Comment