Published: October 8, 2009

College goes by quickly and is relatively carefree. Four years pass in a blink, the last consisting of a blur of classes, internships, grad school applications and graduation prep. One thing that doesn’t get enough attention is health insurance. What do we actually know about our own plans, or the future of our coverage on our parents’ plans?

College students rarely think about getting sick, or what will happen if they face injury. We’re young, we’re healthy— it doesn’t make sense to spend money on something that seems so unnecessary. However, accidents happen. People get sick. We’re not invincible, as difficult as that is to accept. We need to learn about our health care options and educate ourselves about the potential changes being discussed in Congress.

Under the current health care system, health care benefits vary in each state. A plan in Virginia may only cover a child on his parents’ policy until he is no longer a full-time student or until he’s 23 years old. The same plan in Florida will cover a child on his parents’ plan until he is 30 years old or until he has other individuals dependent on him, like a spouse or children. In New York State, under Governor David Paterson’s recently passed proposal, young adults can remain on their parents’ plans until they are 29. Up until July, this coverage ended at 22 for full-time students and 19 for those teenagers who went straight into the work force.

As mentioned in Kathryn Feeney’s article “Obama’s Health Care Plan for Students” on page four, President Barack Obama’s plan calls for a national age minimum of 26 years old before a person is no longer covered by his parents’ policy. The plan also attempts to address the larger problem of why health care is so expensive in the first place: liability insurance for physicians. The current system includes astronomical costs for malpractice insurance for doctors. According to a study released by the Association of American Medical Colleges in April, medical school applications are down. The expense to attend medical school in the present and then to purchase expensive protective insurance in the future is probably a deterrent to students who would otherwise pursue such a career. Kathleen Sebelius, the Health and Human Services Secretary, introduced a plan that will cost $25 million and last three years. The project plans to research different ways to decrease medical malpractice lawsuits, which are one of the main reasons for high liability premiums.

It’s fantastic that the new plan is addressing problems for young adults as well as the basic issues of health care expenses, but more needs to be worked out. The plan is not perfect, and we all know that the current system is far from it. The best we as college students can do is educate ourselves. We need to know what our plans cover and for how long. We need to follow the progress of the proposed plan as it evolves. We need to be educated. We need to educate ourselves.