Last Wednesday, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group published a report that found Americans aged 18 to 24 are the most likely demographic to lack health insurance.
Of that group, 29 percent are uninsured, compared to the 17 percent of older adults who go without health insurance.
The report came just days before the U.S. Senate moved to have a full health care debate and after a summer of heated debates in town hall forums.
Within the report, a 2006 Government Accountability Office study was cited saying 20 percent of college students aged 18 to 23 were uninsured, and that once a student graduates, uninsured rates rise dramatically. In the 23 to 24 age group of new graduates, 38 percent are uninsured.
University student David Zahn wasn’t surprised by the report’s findings at all.
“There is a huge amount of people within this age group that don’t have health insurance, a really really huge amount,” said Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group Health Care Coordinator Zahn.
Two main factors contribute to low insurance rates, the report says: aging out of a parents’ plan, and the overall difficulty graduates face getting insurance through their employers.
“It’s an insane prospect to think students can pay (for insurance) while they are trying to pay off school loans,” Zahn said. “Students are not going into an emerging job market either.”
For Zahn, the report was another step toward addressing an issue that seems to be overlooked.
“It is good to have an affirmation of what’s going on out there,” he said. “Because it does affect students big-time.”
Zahn is part of the 29 percent of youth going through college without health insurance.
“My whole family doesn’t have health insurance, and it’s not because it wasn’t offered, it’s because it was too expensive,” he said. “I would have to pay $900 a month for a $5,000-deductible”— the portion of any claim that is not covered by the insurance provider and must be paid by the insurer.
“I mean, I might as well pay it all out of pocket,” Zahn said.
Over the weekend, the U.S. Senate passed Sen. Max Baucus’ bill along a party-line vote of 60 to 39 to move to a full health care debate.
The Senate bill seeks to extend health benefits to roughly 31 million Americans who are now uninsured at a cost of $848 billion over 10 years.
The bill, titled the Affordable Health Care for America Act, would require that health plans allow youth to remain on their parents’ insurance policy until they turn 27. But until this legislation passes, students have few options for coverage.
One option is to buy insurance from the University Health Center. The Accident and Sickness Medical Expense benefits available for students is underwritten by Aetna Life Insurance Company. An annual policy through this plan runs for an entire calendar year, at a running total of $1,964, and covers 80 percent of the cost of office, hospital, emergency room and health center visits without a deductible.
Health center director Mike Eyster says that only a small fraction of students are under this plan.
“Around 5 percent of students use our domestic plan,” Eyster said. “Some (students) are covered by family plans, some may believe they don’t need it, and some may not be able to afford it.”
The University is part of the 57 percent of universities in the county that the U.S. PIRG report found to offer its own students health plans. However, this one solution isn’t enough for Zahn.
“A lot of students go uninsured because of this invincibility factor they have, like nothing could ever affect them,” he said. “But the thought that health care doesn’t concern students or that they are untouchable”
isn’t logical.
In order to cut costs and make health insurance more affordable for youth, Zahn hopes Congress will vote for a bill with the public option — a government-run plan offered through an exchange in which individuals who currently do not have insurance could buy coverage.
The U.S. PIRG report suggests similar policies that could be adopted to help college students gain access to health insurance, including the public option, ending pre-existing condition denials and allowing dependents to stay on their parents’ health care plans until they are 26, but until those policies are adopted, students like Zahn will continue to go uninsured.
“As long as I can purchase affordable health insurance, I am not opposed to getting it,”
Zahn said.
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Young and uninsured
Daily Emerald
November 24, 2009
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