Insurance might be required

Semester to semester, Bob Wirag sees uninsured students leave the University for circumstances beyond their control.

“Every year it happens,” said the director of the University’s Student Health Service. “Students don’t think they’ll get sick or hospitalized, but then they end up dropping out of school because they need to get a job to pay for their hospital bills.”

To alleviate such situations, UNC-system officials are considering making health insurance mandatory for all students — a step that follows in the path of other public institutions of higher education.

Health directors at the 16 universities in the UNC system have met with the state insurance office to discuss plans, and officials said such a mandate is likely to go into effect in fall 2006 but could become policy as early as next fall.

“We think it’s a good idea to pursue so that all students would have health insurance for both the physical and mental illnesses that come up during college,” said Margaret Jablonski, UNC-CH vice chancellor for student affairs.

Other public institutions — such as the University of Connecticut, Ohio State University and all 10 schools in the University of California system — now require health insurance for their students.

A mandate at UNC would include the right of waiver, which states that students would not have to purchase insurance through the university if they already have coverage comparable to what the university requires.

The state insurance office has been in contact with four or five insurance companies and plans to receive bids by the middle of March, said Bobby Kanoy, associate vice president for academic affairs for the UNC system.

The companies will present multiple plans so each university can pick the plan that best suits its students’ needs.

“We’re trying to design a variety of plans that would meet the needs of different campuses,” Jablonski said. “We have a more complex situation because we have graduates and post-graduates and students with families. We could end up having three or four plans to choose from.”

Wirag said about 85 percent of students at the University are insured, but the roughly 4,000 uninsured students sometimes run into snags.

“When a student drops out, not only does the student lose their investment, but the University loses its investment, too,” he said.

Jablonski stressed that the insurance would be included in students’ financial aid packages, so students should not be alarmed by the possibility of a new fee.

“There will be no adverse effects on students’ finances,” she said.

All students already pay a health fee that is included in student fees, but Wirag said the fee only pays for visits to Student Health Service.

“It covers most of the care most of the students need most of the time,” he said. “But if there is something out of the ordinary, they have to be referred to the hospital. We’ve had two cases of meningitis that have run up tens of thousands of dollars in hospital bills.”

University students now can purchase basic insurance through Hill, Chesson and Woody for an annual premium of $1,281. Wirag said about 6,500 students — close to one-fourth of the entire student body — purchase the plan.

“I haven’t had a problem with it,” said Rebecca Wingo, a senior who is covered under the plan. “I had to have minor surgery, and they paid for everything.”

Wirag also said students should pay particular attention to their parents’ health insurance plans. He said that health insurance usually covers dependents up to age 23 but that some plans drop dependents at an earlier age.

“That’s a pretty scary thing for someone who thought they were covered to find out they’re not.”

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.