Utah college students may soon be required to buy health insurance if some state officials have their way.
Gov. Jon Huntsman has said health care reform is one of his priorities and is looking to increase access to health insurance, according to his Web site, Utah.gov/governor.
Dave Heaton, public information officer for the Southwest Utah Public Health Department, said as of yet there is no mandated health insurance but state officials are looking at the option as a way to decrease insurance costs around the state.
"Here at the Southwest Department, we think it's a pretty good idea as long as the schools are responsible enough to find cheap insurance," he said.
While a state-wide mandate would be new, some universities elsewhere in the country already unilaterally require students to buy health insurance.
SUU Vice President of Student Services Donna Eddleman said she worked at a university that required insurance.
"It's really a philosophical dilemma," she said. "While it's important to appreciate the value of health care, it's also important to recognize the financial problems for students."
Eddleman said administrators would need to overcome several problems before a mandated health insurance program could be initiated.
"I think there are problems with mandating something that is to some degree an individual choice," she said. "It's a double standard if we don't mandate it for the general public."
Eddleman said they also ran into problems mandating coverage because students would show proof of insurance and then let the coverage lapse.
"Unless we find a way to ensure that students stay insured, we aren't solving the real problem," Eddleman said.
SUU Director of Student Health Services Marjean Allen said although the Student Health Clinic doesn't bill insurance, it can be more difficult to provide services to students who aren't insured.
"It's often frustrating to try to care for a student who can't afford the care they need," she said. "I see students every day that can't pay."
Allen said she estimates that 40 percent of the students she treats are uninsured.
"Which means 60 percent are still insured, which is good," she said. "Many college students are still on their parents' plans. The uninsured students are often newly-married students who were dropped from those plans."
Although in general, younger people tend to be and feel healthier, they are at more risk for traumatic or catastrophic injury than other age groups, Heaton said.
"The costs for those injuries are then passed along to the community to pay," he said.
Because these injuries tend to cost more, the price tag often ends up being handed to the community, Allen said.
"It's unfair to the community to have to pay for people who choose to not be insured," she said. "And as the economy goes downward, there will be fewer of those community resources to turn to."
Heaton said if more people had health insurance then costs for everyone would go down.
"It's cheaper for everyone to pay a little bit upfront rather than just pay for the huge bills," he said.
While she encourages students to get health insurance, Allen said she has "mixed feelings" about mandated health insurance.
"Insurance is expensive," she said. "I don't want roadblocks put up in the way of a student's education."
Eddleman said expenses for students is a concern for her as well.
"I work with students who can't even buy food," she said. "Mandated health insurance is part of a much larger picture that must be looked at to see what's best for the students."
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