Published: April 1, 2010

With the recent passing of the new health care bill and the secondary fixes, it is more important than ever for students to understand their personal health coverage. To further convolute the mix, students must now also keep an eye on changes to their student loans.

The new law may be giving some students a false sense of comfort, since some of the changes mandated in the law do not technically go into effect for four years. The changes in student loans will appear July 1, and within six months the changes in health care will start taking effect. While this may be good news for the country overall, it still leaves many recent graduates and seniors about to leave the comforts of college life in the lurch.

As Ashley WennersHerron says in her article on page 1, “New Health Care Law Affects Insurance and Student Loans,” students who are native to New York are fairly safe—they can stay on their parents’ plan until the age of 29. It is important for current seniors to find out the laws specific to their home states in order to avoid finding themselves uninsured come graduation day, which is now just under two months away.

If you are one of the millions about to be dropped from your parents’ coverage after you are no longer labeled a full-time student, consider your options. Some insurance companies will allow you to extend you coverage for an extra fee until the new law kicks in.

If this is not an option for you, or too expensive to justify, look into applying for coverage through the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), a federal program that extends your coverage for a monthly fee, depending on what type of coverage you want. Although it can also be costly, the cost of getting sick or injured without coverage can be tremendous.

The recent message from financial aid alerting students to complete a new master promisory note in order to receive their loan funds conveyed a great sense of urgency. Students neglecting this responsibility will encounter direct and negative effects, as they will not receive the loan funds that they depend on to continue their educations.

Despite the fact that health care might seem like an issue that can be pushed to the wayside in healthy students’ lives, students must approach it with the same sense of urgency as they do their financial aid. Laws across the country vary greatly, so assuming that you’ll remain covered after graduation could lead to devastating consequences in the event of an emergency.

Bottom line: don’t mess with your health care. Starting your life in the “real world” is difficult enough without worrying that you might find yourself in debt at any moment because of unforseen and sudden circumstances. This is not the time to procrastinate and hope that you’ll figure it out later. Be proactive and start the first day of the rest of your life on the right foot.