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The fact is, these policies are not "provid(ing) a BASIC low cost insurance which is what students need...". They are a cash cow for the insurance companies, and don't always provide coverage when it is needed. Please read the article!
You miss the point. The federal government has decided to imposse its will on the services, agreed upon by both the consumer and the private sector provider. If I like the product being offered, and it fills my needs, it no longer matters. Our private choices are no longer being tolerated by the all-knowing tyrants in government. They, and only they know what is best for us and are making it illegal for us to purchase what works for us.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Katiana
As I said above, you can't predict what health care needs you will have, at any time.
...and neither does the federal government. There are hundreds of millions of Americans, all with different wants, needs and desires, living different lives, with different circumstances. There is no way in hell a few bureaucrats in Washington DC can decide for me and you what is best for our needs or desires.
And yet, here we are, with the feds creating laws deciding for us what insurance services we will be allowed to purchase, and if we dare to choose something they feel does not make their standards, we will be forced to pay federal fines or face federal imprisonment.
I acknowledged that wasn't a great point. However, during the entire health care debate, RW after RW said, (paraphrasing) "85% of Americans are insured. Why do we have to change the system for the other 15%?" Now all of a sudden, they're worried about 7% of college students?
I am trying to say, I think a lot of the 7% will be covered under their parents' policies, in fact, they may be now. Some parents aren't savvy enough to check with their own policies to see if their college age kids are covered. The issue is not should college students have health insurance. The issue is should the colleges sell good-for-nothing policies to students?
We had freedom.
We also had Medicaid, Medicare and federally funded SHIPs, and we had people who decided not to purchase health insurance if they did not want it.
What we are getting now, is the federal government mandating by law, what we must purchase, and what we cannot purchase, with federal punishments if we do not obey.
Its a choice, to buy health insurance thru college was their choice to make, not yours to deny.
Its also the choice by colleges to rip people off by forcing students to pay tuition fees that far outpace inflation, while those same colleges get free federal taxpayer money. But that is another story.
You miss the point. The federal government has decided to imposse its will on the services, agreed upon by both the consumer and the private sector provider. If I like the product being offered, and it fills my needs, it no longer matters. Our private choices are no longer being tolerated by the all-knowing tyrants in government. They, and only they know what is best for us and are making it illegal for us to purchase what works for us.
...and neither does the federal government. There are hundreds of millions of Americans, all with different wants, needs and desires, living different lives, with different circumstances. There is no way in hell a few bureaucrats in Washington DC can decide for me and you what is best for our needs or desires.
And yet, here we are, with the feds creating laws deciding for us what insurance services we will be allowed to purchase, and if we dare to choose something they feel does not make their standards, we will be forced to pay federal fines or face federal imprisonment.
I'm not going to touch that first point. However, regarding your second point, what the feds are trying to get ins. companies to do is sell comprehensive insurance, not stripped down policies with caps so ridiculous that they basically provide no coverage at all. College students may be low risk for certain diseases, but they are not at no risk. There is a big difference.
We also had Medicaid, Medicare and federally funded SHIPs, and we had people who decided not to purchase health insurance if they did not want it.
What we are getting now, is the federal government mandating by law, what we must purchase, and what we cannot purchase, with federal punishments if we do not obey.
Its a choice, to buy health insurance thru college was their choice to make, not yours to deny.
Its also the choice by colleges to rip people off by forcing students to pay tuition fees that far outpace inflation, while those same colleges get free federal taxpayer money. But that is another story.
Well said. Obamacare needs to be repealed. I hate the fact that the tyrants running this country are telling me what kind of insurance I must have. Like, Obamacare is requiring NONSMOKERS to buy insurance that covers SMOKING CESSATION. How STUPID is that? Looks like I will be paying the fine because as a nonsmoker, I bought insurance that does not cover this. I DON'T NEED IT AND SHOULDN'T BE FORCED TO PAY FOR IT. I won't be smoking ever.
Yes, basic coverage is perfectly fine for a lot of college students. My brother is a perfect example. He never went to the doctor and a policy with extensive coverage would have been useless for him. My brother doesn't go to the doctor very often if at all.
Maybe things are looking up. I just got a letter from Blue Cross Blue Shield. Thought it was going to be an insurance increase notice. Surprisingly my insurance is going down 7.1% (if state approves). When was the last time insurance went down. Obama care may be working. I'm thinking it starts Jan 1 is that when Obama care kicks in insurance companies has to spend 80% of earning for medical care. Any way I'm happy I thought it was going to be the typical 10 15 or 20% increase. Here is to things looking up.
My son's state college just tried to sell him their health plan. I don't know about the other 49 states, but here in NY they aren't all that affordable.
In the mid-1980's mine was $120.00/semester. Extremely affordable. That included any prescriptions, x-rays, etc... . What do they run today?
My son's state college just tried to sell him their health plan. I don't know about the other 49 states, but here in NY they aren't all that affordable.
Same at my child's SUNY. Shy of $500 for the fall semester, and closer to $675 for the spring 2011 and another $290 for summer.
My college's health care plan was crap from the get-go. Lifetime maximum benefits are a pitiful 50,000, and the premium was something like 2% of the max benefits, 10% if you want to insure your spouse and even more for kids. Coverage is only 100% for the student health clinic where you can get birth control, stitches and not much else. Anything done in local hospitals is only 35% covered.
From my experience, these low-cost plans are not worth the paper they're printed on. They seem to be aimed at charging those students who are already covered by their parent's plans a few extra thousand a year to be able to use the school clinic.
Within my child's SUNY: in addition to Student Health Service fees (everyone is assessed these fees) students are required to purchase the Student health insurance I referenced a post ago -- unless they waive the fee by showing evidence of health insurance coverage.
Currently the Infirmary fee (SHS) is $138.50 per semester for a full time student. It can not be waived. The student health insurance is automatically billed ($486.25 fall semester) and can only be waived by submitting proof of health insurance coverage.
Maybe things are looking up. I just got a letter from Blue Cross Blue Shield. Thought it was going to be an insurance increase notice. Surprisingly my insurance is going down 7.1% (if state approves). When was the last time insurance went down. Obama care may be working. I'm thinking it starts Jan 1 is that when Obama care kicks in insurance companies has to spend 80% of earning for medical care. Any way I'm happy I thought it was going to be the typical 10 15 or 20% increase. Here is to things looking up.
I received a letter earlier this week from HIP/Emblemhealth informing me that they are requesting a rate increase of 22% - 27%. They cited the reason for the increase was due to Timothy's Law (approx $6 per member) and Obama's Health Act.
My insurance is over $1700 a month for a family. It's an HMO, always fighting for approvals on medically necessary tests. If they get approved, it could go up by over $450 a month.
Needless to say I am shopping around, but from the looks of things I will be getting higher copays and large deductibles to bring the bill down.
College students will be able to stay on their parents' policy until age 26, starting in January, I believe.
These college insurance plans sound like a rip-off anyway. There are cheaper ways of getting insurance. When our DDs were kicked off our policy, we found a $125/mo policy for each of them that provided fairly decent coverage. (Then they both got jobs and got insurance through work.)
Age 26 and starting soon is true.
Only problem for today's graduating students is the lack of jobs and when they find something, the quality (or lack of) benefits provided by that employer.
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Obamacare needs to be repealed.
