News : Health Insurance Requirement for Students
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Since Autumn 2002, Ohio State University students at the Columbus campus have been required to carry adequate health insurance. This applies to undergraduates enrolled for 6 or more eligible credit hours and graduate students enrolled for 5 or more eligible credit hours.
The requirement may be met either by enrolling in the University-sponsored Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP) or by enrollment in another health insurance plan offering comparable coverage.
When registering on-line for classes, students are asked to indicate which choice they are making:
- Those eligible students who wish to enroll in the Student Health Insurance Plan just need to verify their enrollment on their Account Statement at www.buckeyelink.osu.edu.. This is the default choice, and unless the on-line Waiver of Insurance Form is completed, the student will be enrolled in the Comprehensive Student Health Insurance Plan and the cost will be added to the fee statement. (If the student wants coverage for a spouse or dependent(s), they must actively select that choice).
- Those with other coverage, such as that provided by their employer, parent's employer, or spouse's employer, may waive out of the Student Health Insurance Plan by completing the on-line waiver form by the 15th day of their first term of enrollment each academic year. If this form is not completed fully by the deadline, students will be enrolled in SHIP and billed accordingly.
Further Information
Students attending The Ohio State University are required to have adequate health insurance. This requirement was added because it was clear that a significant percentage of our students did not have adequate health care coverage and that the lack of such insurance was causing higher drop-out rates for medical problems and related costs. In cases of serious illness or injury, they had difficulty accessing care beyond emergency treatment.
Waiver System
The insurance waiver system adopted by The Ohio State University is comparable to the insurance requirements that exist at many other major public universities. Students are not required to purchase the University-sponsored Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP). They have the option of waiving out of the SHIP by providing proof of other comparable health insurance during class registration.
History
The American College Health Association has recommended that all universities and colleges require that students demonstrate adequate health insurance coverage or adequate financial resources to pay for expected and unexpected medical expenses as a condition of enrollment.
Many other institutions of higher education also recognize the importance of students having access to the full healthcare system. Most private colleges and universities already require health insurance, and there is a recent trend among public institutions to move in a similar direction. Most recently, health insurance was required by Regents mandate for the entire University of California system. In addition, a number of other major public universities, including Minnesota, Illinois, Washington, New York, Connecticut, Virginia, New Jersey, and Colorado, as well as a number of schools in the state of Ohio, such as Miami and Cincinnati, have implemented waiver systems.
Initially charged by former Ohio State President Brit Kirwan and Vice President for Student Affairs Bill Hall, the Health Insurance as a Condition of Enrollment Task Force presented its recommendations to the President's Coordinating Council in the spring of 2001. Following an additional year of investigation, the recommendation was approved on May 22, 2002.
Reasons for Requirement
In the long debate over the gap in health insurance coverage in the United States, the point has been made that some people are uninsured "by choice". These people actively choose not to enroll in health insurance plans because they do not perceive health insurance to be necessary, affordable, a good buy, easily obtainable - or all four. The population most often accused of thinking and behaving in this manner towards health insurance are young adults, and for the last decade, young adults have been the population group at greatest risk of being uninsured or having gaps in their insurance coverage.
Some argue that young people are more likely to lack health insurance because they feel "invulnerable" and therefore do not need health insurance. In addition, conventional wisdom suggests that young adults do not accurately perceive the risk of illness or injury, are generally in a risk-taking period of life, and think that either their parents or the health system will "be there" for them if they actually do need health care. Emergency room care is generally available for the uninsured, but is incredibly inconvenient, expensive, and not oriented toward primary care services.
These mistaken stereotypes of young adults have created concern among many college health professionals today. There is a growing body of evidence that shows a significant percentage of uninsured students will experience difficulty in obtaining health care in the surrounding community. Many people incorrectly believe that young people need very little medical care. In fact, young adults access medical care regularly when it is available, and have a growing need for routine and preventive health care. In spite of this increasing need, there is a trend among employer-sponsored health plans around the country to take actions to limit the rapidly rising costs of health insurance. Many are doing so by either lowering the age that dependents can continue to be covered by their parent's health plan, not subsidizing the costs of insurance for dependents, or adopting managed care networks that do not provide adequate benefits when students attend college away from home.
The leadership at The Ohio State University was concerned about the increasing percentage of college students without adequate health insurance and its relationship with higher student drop-out rates. Many students were incurring major medical bills that seriously impaired or completely halted their academic progress. In addition, referral to community medical providers for more severe and acute problems has become increasingly difficult without adequate health insurance. While Wilce Student Health Center provides for most of the basic medical needs of our students, without adequate health insurance, students may be denied access in the community to all but emergency care in the event of a serious illness.
Finally, failure to have adequate health insurance may cause students to defer care for medical problems until they have advanced to a more serious and potentially more costly problem to treat. If the problem is a communicable disease, this also presents a public health risk to the entire campus population.
Waiving the Comprehensive Plan
The Insurance as a Condition of Enrollment requirement at The Ohio State University requires that all students enrolled at the Columbus campus with at least half-time status (six hours for undergraduate students and five hours for graduate students) have adequate health insurance in order to register for classes. If a student's credit hours fall below this level, he or she is not eligible for coverage by the Student Health Insurance Plan. Students may waive out of participation in the Student Health Insurance Plan by documenting that they have comparable coverage under another health insurance plan. This documentation of coverage must be confirmed once each academic year. During the registration process students will have the opportunity to complete the on-line waiver. Students have until the 15th day of the quarter to fill out the on-line waiver form if they already have health insurance. Otherwise they will be automatically enrolled in the Comprehensive Student Health Insurance Plan and the premium costs will be added to their fee statements.
Periodic audits are conducted to determine if waived students have provided correct and complete information and if the current health insurance policy meets the University's standards for comparable coverage. Those student's who's waiver information is deemed not in compliance will be contacted and then enrolled in the University-sponsored plan the following quarter and placed in a group for further monitoring.
Before making the decision to waive out of participation in the Student Health Insurance Plan, please take time to be certain that your current plan is comparable to the University-sponsored plan and provides the coverage in the Columbus area you may need. If you waive the Student Health Insurance Plan, you must wait until the following quarter/term to enroll, or else have a qualifying event such as an involuntary loss of insurance coverage.
Issues to Consider
Will my current insurance policy be in effect for the entire academic year, or does coverage drop on a certain date?
Does my current plan include doctors, hospitals, and other healthcare resources in the central Ohio area?
Does my current plan cover doctor visits, lab work and other diagnostic services, inpatient and outpatient hospital services, ambulance services, mental health services, and prescription drug coverage in the central Ohio area?
Is the deductible on my current plan less than $500 for the policy year in the central Ohio area?
Is the maximum lifetime benefit of my current plan at least $500,000 per person, or is there a maximum amount my current plan will pay for any one condition?
What are my out-of-pocket expenses in the central Ohio area in terms of co-payments, deductibles, and co-insurances?
All students must complete the waiver form by the 15th day of the quarter/term in order to waive out of the University-sponsored health insurance plan. Failure to do so will result in automatic enrollment in the Student Health Insurance Plan, and the charge for the Plan will appear as a line item on your account statement from Fees and Deposits.
If you plan to complete the on-line waiver form to verify comparable health insurance coverage and to waive out of the Student Health Insurance Plan, please be certain you have a copy of the policy insurer card with the following information:
Name of Insurance Company
Group/Policy Number
Insurance Company Address, Including City, State, and Zip Code
Insurance Company Telephone Number
Policy Holder* Name
Policy Holder* Identification Number
Policy Holder* Telephone Number
*Policy Holder is the primary person that the policy is under, such as parent, spouse, or student
The Ohio State University is committed to enhancing the academic success of our students by helping them to achieve and maintain the highest levels of health and well being possible. Although most students use the Wilce Student Health Center for their basic health care needs, this does not protect them from financial hardships in the event of a serious medical problem. For specialized and emergency medical care, our health center providers often need to refer the students to medical resources in the surrounding community. Community referral for a serious medical condition requires an insurance level that is at least comparable to that provided by the Student Health Insurance Plan that was designed specifically for the students of The Ohio State University. If you have additional questions, please contact us at (614) 688-7979 or e-mail us at shi_info@osu.edu.