Professors Comment on Student Healthcare [The Rally in Context]

President Obama’s plans for college students and recent graduates’ health insurance may be a topic of discussion this Friday. Obama will take the stage at the Patriot Center at 11:30 a.m. to discuss his plans for greater health reform, perhaps providing him with an opportunity to address more publicly how young adults fit into his proposal.

There is a section in Obama’s bill devoted to young adults and the specified time period in which they are permitted to live as dependents under their parents’ insurance plan. Here is the health insurance reform as it appears in the proposed bill:

SEC. 2714. EXTENSION OF DEPENDENT COVERAGE.

(a) In general - A group health plan and a health insurance issuer offering group or individual health insurance coverage that provides dependent coverage of children shall continue to make such coverage available for an adult child (who is not married) until the child turns 26 years of age.

Dr. Dean Taciuch, an honors professor at George Mason University, said, “I think this is needed due to the high cost of health insurance and health care in the U.S. It would be unnecessary if we had a national healthcare program though.”

Some states, such as Connecticut and New Jersey, allow young adults to be dependents beyond graduation from college in certain situations, but this is not the case nationwide. The current law in Virginia “makes dependent status available to any child up to age 19 or who is a dependent up to age 25 who resides with the parent or is a full-time student.”

Therefore, in order to be under the insurance of one’s parents between the ages of 19 and 25 in Virginia, one must either be a full-time student or live at home. Those individuals who have graduated and moved away from home are required to pay for their own insurance. However, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, 15 percent of 20- to-24-year-olds were unemployed in September 2009, meaning they would have had no means of paying for their own insurance.

Steve Klein, a professor of journalism at Mason, said, “I believe children should have the option to be covered by their parents until 25 unless they have access to alternative insurance through school or work. The lack of health care limits career choices and robs all of us when people make [less] career choices based on health care limitations.”

Klein said he sees the merits of Obama’s plan and agrees that young adults may need the aid of their parents until around 25 or 26 years old. He believes graduates should be able to make career decisions based on factors other than health care.

“We are talking about our children’s health and the care of their health here,” Klein said. “I would think that parents would want to do right by the children, and that children would act responsibly within their family. Obviously, there will be exceptions. But we are talking about health care, not rent or meal plans.”

Young adults, between the ages of 19 and 29, are the largest growing age group in the U.S. at risk of being uninsured. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, young adults account for 13 million of the 47 million Americans who currently live without health insurance.

A study conducted by the Commonwealth Fund in 2008 reports that about 34 percent of college graduates spend some time uninsured following graduation. That same study found that approximately two-thirds of young adults who spent time uninsured had gone without needed medical care solely because they lacked insurance and could not afford it.

“I was a college grad under those conditions,” Taciuch said. “I went without health insurance from 18 until my late 20s, so I’d want such a law. It would be better not to need it though. I’d rather pay slightly higher taxes for affordable healthcare for everyone.”

Obama’s plan may eliminate the need for young adults to fend for themselves in terms of health care. His federal law would extend the cutoff for individuals to remain as dependents under their parents’ plan to the age of 26, regardless of whether they are full-time students or living at home.

However, some people have argued that this reform would only further encourage young adults to become lazy or to slack off. By remaining under the health care plan of their parents for several years beyond graduation, many predict that some individuals will not feel the need to work as hard because they know they don’t have to worry about paying medical insurance.

Catherine Wright, PhD, a professor of communication at Mason, said, “That statement is ridiculous and definitely unfair to people of all ages. Why would this law make anyone lazier or not lazier?  It’s like saying that if you can’t drive a rental car until you’re 25 you won’t be a good driver until then.”

Although Wright does not believe Obama’s plan would make young adults lazier, she does see the proposed reform as a mistake. She believes that if people are on their “own,” regardless of age, they should be able to pay their own costs.

“At some point people need to start being responsible for their own things,” Wright said. “Why 26?  Why not 35 or 45? I think supporting one’s child through his or her college years is fine because they are still technically a dependent. At the point that someone is no longer a dependent, they need to be on their own and support themselves.”

According to the Government Accountability Office, between 20 and 30 percent of college students are uninsured even prior to graduation. However, about 30 percent of colleges nationwide require health insurance from its students. Students at these schools are automatically placed under the school’s health care plan unless they provide outside health care. Mason, for example, provides students with a health insurance plan through Aetna. Students, domestic and international alike, are eligible for this plan if they are taking at least six credits. 

If between 20 and 30 percent of college students are uninsured and another large percentage are under the insurance provided by the school they attend, most of these individuals will simply go without insurance for several years following graduation unless Obama’s dependency reform passes.

“If I were a college student, I’d have to say ‘yes’ [to the reforms] because if someone’s giving me something for nothing, why not?” Wright said. “As a taxpayer and a parent, I say it’s time to get a job or continue in grad school. As long as you’re a student, you have health care available at a more affordable price through the university or college. If you’re no longer a dependent, then you should not be on your parent’s health care plan.”

With so many young adults finding themselves backed into a corner after graduation, it will be interesting to see if Obama addresses his “extension of dependent coverage” clause during his upcoming health care discussion at the Patriot Center.