Monday, November 16, 2009
With debate in Congress and across the nation discussing the benefits of health care reform for the nation’s citizens, students should also consider the impact of such legislation. Though it is complex, health care reform demands that students at least consider some tangible impacts it will have while they’re in school and as they look ahead to their post-collegiate life.
The most important and direct change affecting students might be the increased security they can expect while they are in school. Many students lose coverage under their parents’ plans after their 22nd or 23rd birthdays. Although the majority of undergraduates might not reach this age during their collegiate careers, non-traditional students and graduate students can quickly reach this limit.
Under proposed legislation included in the House of Representatives’ version of the health care bill, full-time students could maintain their coverage under a parent’s plan for longer. Health care reform, including subsidies and possibly a public option from the government, will make it much more likely that students could afford quality care even after they are no longer eligible under their parents’ plan.
One of the larger challenges facing students in their post-collegiate life is a lack of health insurance. If students cannot find a job offering health care coverage right after graduation and they are no longer full-time students, they are often left without coverage. Not having health care is a dangerous situation for anyone, but for active students in their 20s who are accustomed to that safety net, it could be especially bad.
New health care legislation would most likely require everyone to carry health insurance, with subsidies and competition making it affordable. This would help students with the transition into the post-collegiate world, especially if they cannot find a job offering health coverage directly after graduation.
Students also have a responsibility to engage in the health care debate because of social and cultural issues. These issues, though not directly a part of reforming health care, have accompanied the issue since legislation was proposed this summer.
The liberal support of universal health care is founded in the belief that health care is a civil and human right. Though others might disagree with health care being considered an inalienable right, it is obvious that our current system is not fulfilling the needs of many citizens.
Conservative students, or those who otherwise disagree with Democratic proposals, need to consider how this situation will be fixed. Poor health coverage affects our economy, social stability and our unity as a nation.
While liberal-leaning students might support efforts for universal health care, they also have to decide what level of compromise they’ll accept to achieve it. This challenge is manifesting itself in a debate concerning coverage for abortions under federally run or subsidized insurance plans.
Federally run plans, such as Medicare or Medicaid, are prevented from covering abortions under the Hyde Amendment. New amendments to the current House legislation would extend this prohibition to any possible federal public option as well as any plan purchased in the insurance exchange with federal subsidies.
Though there is disagreement about how this might restrict abortion, it does seem liberals would have to accept some compromise on an issue they hold dear in order to achieve victory in the House and Senate.
Students have a number of compelling reasons to at least be interested in the health care debate, ranging from their positions as students, their needs after graduation, their responsibility as a generation and their political and cultural beliefs. Students should consider these concepts and decide where they stand. If they do not, they risk becoming a victim of the system rather than one who has influenced its transformation.
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Editorial: Health care reform and students
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