Report suggests mandatory insurance

UCF will support a proposal that would require students to purchase health insurance if the rest of the state supports it as well.

In December, the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability released a report titled "University Students Pay $68 Million for Health Services; Mandating Health Insurance Would Produce Benefits But Raise Uninsured Students' Cost of Attendance 5% to 7%."

Maribeth Ehasz, vice president of Student Development and Enrollment Services at UCF, said that the State Legislature had OPPAGA, a statewide research group, study the issue of mandatory health insurance.

OPPAGA researched the health centers at the 11 state universities in Florida to assess the efficacy of mandatory insurance for students.

OPPAGA suggests that adopting the requirement and implementing it statewide would protect students in case of accident or illness, reduce student withdrawals and give universities a better ability to negotiate insurance policies.

The 28-page report by OPPAGA included letters from the Florida Board of Governors, UCF and the University of Florida after each reviewed a draft before its release.

"UF and UCF both wrote letters of support for a statewide effort to make health insurance mandatory for all students at the [state] universities," Ehasz said.

Since 2007, Florida State University has required that all new full-time students carry health insurance. Students have the option to obtain the university-sponsored insurance or carry a policy that meets a certain criterion.

California and North Carolina are among the seven states in the country that have mandatory health coverage for students and use a system similar to FSU's.

"The need [for health insurance] is clearly not going to go away independent of what the nation does with health care reform," said Robert Wirag, director of Health Services at UCF. "We can and should be taking action now to put the best plan together in our students' best interest."

Ehasz said they recognize the concern that many students do not have health insurance and therefore might go untreated. She said they know this would interfere with their success and progress.

"Our position is that if all state institutions — if all students were required to have some form of health insurance, then we could negotiate for a much stronger and much more economical policy for all students making it a win-win for everyone," Ehasz said.

A senior at UCF was dropped from her mother's insurance plan when she turned 23, and she purchased a plan for herself two months before breaking her ankle in three places.

The student requested not to be named due to an impending file against a business that has neglected to take responsibility for her accident.

"One bill was $50,000, and if I hadn't gotten a plan when I did there would be no way for me to pay for it," she said.

The student said she was surprised that FSU has made health insurance for students mandatory.

"I don't even know how [FSU] could make health insurance mandatory," she said. "It's just so expensive."

Wirag said the state university's health center directors are close and speak through conference calls monthly.

According to Wirag, all of the health service directors in the 11 schools are on the same page and would be delighted if action were taken to adopt the policy of mandatory insurance with waiver.

Students with an established insurance policy would not be required to change distributors.

"There would be an option that if you're on your parents' policy or have a certain level [of insurance] that you wouldn't have to get any additional," Ehasz said. "OPPAGA [is] suggesting there be this waiver if you have your own insurance."

"I'm on my parents' insurance policy, but if I wasn't, the only way I'd be able to afford health insurance is to have some financial help," said Leslie Sowder, a senior elementary education major.

Ehasz made clear that UCF has not taken any action to implement a mandatory health insurance policy.

"The state of Florida is considering a mandatory health insurance requirement for students, but [UCF] is not considering that at this point," Ehasz said. "Our position is that if the entire state came together on that issue then we certainly feel it would be in the best interest for everyone."

The OPPAGA report notes that all state universities offer limited to premium insurance coverage ranging in price from $518 to $1,687 per year.

"We also share the concerns that student government has with the fact that this would be another financial obligation for students in an era where there are more financial obligations than students have had in the past for the cost of their education," Ehasz said.

According to the report, the average cost for an undergraduate to attend a state university in Florida is $18,220, and if health insurance was made mandatory costs would increase 5 percent to 7 percent, or what they calculated as $19,149 for basic coverage and $19,470 for comprehensive.

"If in fact health insurance was mandatory across the state it would become part of the financial aid cost of attendance, so it would be covered by financial aid where right now it is not," Ehasz said.

UF and FSU already incorporate health insurance in the cost of attendance for undergraduates. UCF is one of nine universities in the state that collects health fees according to credit hour. UCF charges $8.99 per credit hour.

Wirag said students have access to privileges and programs offered by Health Services but often don't realize it.

"Every student pays a health fee that comes with certain entitlements and one of those entitlements is unlimited visits to the health center without an office charge," he said.

Wirag explained health services from the clinical perspective.