When the Commonwealth of Massachusetts enacted health care reform, lawmakers neglected a large segment of the population: students, like me. Currently, almost every university-offered plan fails to meet the Minimum Creditable Coverage (MCC) standards, the same standards that every health insurance plan in Massachusetts must meet.
Student health plans are riddled with limitations and caps—such as annual benefit caps as low as $50,000 and per-service caps as low as $1500 on outpatient services (which can include high-cost procedures such as outpatient surgery and chemotherapy). Prescription drugs are not necessarily covered and when they are, this coverage is capped. And in nearly every student health plan, preventive care is excluded.
These poor health plans have led students to face large amounts of medical debt, and have forced many students under these plans to avoid care because they fear going into debt.
In response to the problems with student health insurance, we created the Student Health Organizing Coalition (SHOC) in September of 2008 to campaign for student health insurance reform in Massachusetts. SHOC is a student-run organization that started at Tufts; we’ve since added a chapter at Brandeis. There are members of SHOC at UMass, Emerson, Gordon, and Suffolk as well.
SHOC organizers have been talking with students across the Commonwealth to gather stories about problems with their school health insurance. SHOC members have met with state agencies, state legislators, and university administrators to advocate alongside students who have been affected by poor health insurance to reform the system.
Our efforts have helped bring about two important steps toward substantial reform. First, the Division of Health Care Finance and Policy is now requiring—for the first time—that colleges and universities report on the performance of their health plans, including the number of grievances and claim denials. Second, State Senator Richard Moore has filed An Act Relative to the Qualifying Student Health Insurance Program, which could put QSHIP plans under the purview of Minimum Creditable Coverage regulations.
If you would like to learn more about SHOC, you may contact me at 516-680-7061 or aaron.marden@gmail.com. You may also contact our current lead organizer, Vivian Haime; her e-mail is Vivian.haime@tufts.edu.
Interview to share your experiences with the Wall Street Journal
Hi,
I am a reporter with the Wall Street Journal and I'm working on an article about the shortfalls and hidden dangers in student health care plans. I am trying to find students or their parents to interview regarding the impact that these plans can have on students, their health, their debt levels and their families. If you are willing to potentially share your experience to educate other students, please email me at jessica.silver-greenberg@wsj.com or call me at (212) 416-2665.
Thank you.
Jessica
Health Plan
Student Health Insurance plans are generally only available to full-time students at qualified universities. Please determine your eligibility for any student health plan with a license agent or the insurance carrier directly.
My daughter had surgery on a
My daughter had surgery on a broken bone in her wrist. Her student healthcare plan denied coverage for the anesthesiologist. How can one have surgery if the insruance wont cover atleast part of the anesthesia? It is time for reform.
Also note. she lives at home, 40 miles from her school. She cannot see her local doctor for simple services such as ear infections & strep throat. We were told she must drive into school 40 miles away becuase we do not live 75 miles from the school. If we lived 75 miles from school she could see the doctor of her chocie. This is totally absurd!
students lacking adequate health coverage
I just saw a student this week whose student health plan was maxed out due to the insulin regimen he was on. He was on Lantus 80 am and 40 pm, and then short-acting insulin TID. He is a type II diabetic, and has gotten suboptimal care, as far as I can tell. I referred him to an endocrinologist, whom I hope will modify his regimen to something he can afford. Fortunately, I have a grant that will pay for hid meds, but having someone on Lantus who was just as well controlled on Humulin N/R puzzles me and is not adequate use of Student Health $.
Student health insurance
It is definitely time for a change. My MassHealth coverage got cut off because my school offers health insurance but that cost over $1000. And I have a great relationship with my primary care doctor who I would have to leave if I am insured through my college. Horrible.
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