Why should you as an institution require all students to have some form of health insurance?

A.           COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY

1.        Student retention/protection from attrition.

2.        Helps to reduce litigation for on campus accidents, college activities, etc.

3.        Eliminates potential college involvement in collection efforts for a community provider of unpaid medical bills of an uninsured student.  Additionally, this can create a public relations problem in terms of the provider extending care to other students in the future.

4.        Facilitates the goals of the institution by providing a value added service.

5.        Provides a certain level of protection for all students.

6.        Helps offset the recent reduction on most campuses of on-campus health care, i.e.  "The 24 hour infirmary."  The best financing strategy (institutionally most cost effective) is to provide ambulatory care through the student health service and require health insurance for hospitalization, surgical, outpatient specialty care, x-rays in the lab, etc.

7.        Mandatory fees are more likely eligible to be covered by financial aid.  Not so if optional.

8.        Raises the possibility of fee for service for student health services, enables the administration to provide more comprehensive on-campus health service.

9.        Can be designed to offset cost of blanket intercollegiate sports accident insurance.

B.           STUDENT HEALTH SERVICE

1.       Provides equal access to medical care.  On-campus health service can refer student to outside providers because the student has coverage.  If this were not the case, the problem becomes twofold:

a.      Student cannot afford or does not want to pay for care.

b.     Provider may not see patient without some indication of payment (immediate payment or insurance).  As a result of the above, health services may be forced to try to treat the student on campus which  (a) drives up student health service cost/budget, (b) compromises the necessary treatment required, and (c) exposes health services to malpractice risk.

C.           INSUREDS

1.       When the student has health insurance, he/she can secure care without regard to his/her ability to pay for it.  As in the scenario above, without insurance, the student may very well go without needed services.

2.       College age students feel invulnerable to accident or illness.  Those of us involved know this is a myth.

3.       Parents' plans cut off coverage once a dependent reaches a certain age, usually 23.

4.       Greater unemployment, the breakup of the traditional family, and less employer provided employee benefits make it more likely that students will be without insurance.  Both three and four often occur unknowingly to the students.  All too often, they find out after it is too late.

D.          STUDENT POPULATION

1.         Collective buying power.

2.         Collective welfare/group interest; with the few who suffer losses.

E.           INSURANCE REASONS

1.         Spread risk.

2.         No adverse selection.

3.        Both 1 and 2 allow for the most coverage at the lowest cost.

F.            OTHER

1.        Even if there is other insurance, this insurance provides a good supplement or "wrap around" coverage for high deductibles and coinsurance which are now commonly part of every employee benefit package.

         2.   Equality for all students. Rates and coverage are the same.