In absense of universal access to healthcare, policymakers are considering mandated health insurance for college students in Maryland. Lead advocate Delegate Pena-Melnyk (D-PG County) explains that the estimated increased cost of healthcare is not a "deal-breaker" for affordability of higher education. DelmarvaNow.com highlighted a forum on the issue in an article.
Initial estimates claim that healthcare for college students would add an additional $1000 to the cost of tuition. Those whose parents have healthcare could exempt from the plan. Right now, policies vary across different institutions. At UMBC and Salisbury, students can choose to purchase healthcare through the campus, but are not required to have healthcare to attend school or live on campus. At the University of Baltimore, students must have healthcare to attend school full-time. At UMES, students are all charged for a minimal fee for the health center that covers basic care (students can exempt out of this fee if they show proof of healthcare). Additionally, college athletes and international students must have health coverage.
While healthcare is important, even health advocates in higher education put student insurance low on the priority list, behind sex education and immunization, according to Andy Clark of the USM.
Personally, I believe that the requirement is unnecessarily prohibitive for college students to attend institutions of higher education. The only case in which the university should consider requiring health insurance is in the case in which order and safety on campus is significantly at risk in the absence of healthcare for students. College athletes and international students would fall into this classification. It might also be reasonably argued that on-campus students should have coverage, although I would not currently advocate this point.
With that said, should such a requirement be added to the cost of higher education, the cost should be included in the calculation of "cost of education" used for financial aid purposes. Universities should also focus their collective efforts on providing more affordable optional health coverage for students.
With the expected rise in tuition rates, advocates concerned with accessibility in higher education should focus efforts on recruiting and retaining college students by mitigating college costs, not adding to them.
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2 comments:
I personally would be opposed to this legislation. Although
$1,000 a year may seem trivial, that's a huge increase. If people
could afford health care they would already have it. Mandating it in
my opinion, wouldn't be right. In addition, low income students may
not be able to attend college if they couldn't afford the coverage. It
sounds like a total joke.
Chris basically summed it up. This is just another tactic to force out the poor and milk the middle class a little bit more. College is just about money. If this isn't the writing on the wall I don't know what else is.
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