OLDER people especially are fond of pointing out, in listing the blessings of the college-aged, that we still have our health. Despite the ravages of cold and flu season, this is essentially true for most of us. Of course, the elderly generally forget to note that they have guaranteed health insurance, through Medicare. Unfortunately, we young whippersnappers live precariously when it comes to any defect in our usual picture of health. We need to be aware of the shaky system of American health insurance, both for our personal safety and as a larger national issue.
Recent college graduates frequently spend months without insurance, praying that they won't become sick enough to require hospitalization. Without coverage, suffering even a minor injury could be debilitating to the wallet. According to the University Hospital's Patient Billing Office, average physician fees run from $300 to over $1,000. Patient Financial Services estimates the cost of a single night's stay in the hospital to be $550.
For example, a concussion from a car accident or playing sports often requires a hospital admission, CT scan and MRI test. A cranial CT scan costs $600, a cranial MRI $860 to $2,000. All this adds up to a potential cost of $4,000 - just to be told you're OK. God help you and your bank account if there's something seriously wrong.
The majority of University students come from middle class families and haven't had to worry about insurance. Our parents' benefits from work covered us as their dependents. We can lose insurance in several ways, depending on which company our parents use.
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Your 21st birthday might have inspired some memory-making bacchanals. But your 22nd may find you desperately brushing your teeth, hoping that you won't need to visit the dentist now that Kaiser Permanente has dropped you. College graduation usually means celebration of academic accomplishment, but it also signals the end of your parents' being able to claim you as a dependent for most insurance plans. Even a joyous occasion like a wedding requires both bride and groom to figure out, before their trip down the aisle, how they'll pay for any future trips to the doctor. Marriage also removes dependent status.
The plea of being poor won't help unless you're nearly broke, because Medicaid only covers childless people if they have less than $4,000 in resources.
The University requires that all students be covered by year-round accident and hospitalization insurance. If they enter without insurance, or lose it during their time at the University, they can sign up for the University's endorsed insurance plan for students. Better known as QualChoice, it has a limited area, which means it doesn't cover the Tidewater region or areas outside Virginia.
Not everyone comes here knowing about private insurance. The University has to inform international students about the change in coverage. In many other developed nations, health insurance follows the individual instead of being patched together depending on the person's age or occupation. The fact that the United States lacks a national health program means that individuals buy private health insurance plans by paying a monthly or yearly premium. This plan takes some of the burden of medical costs off individuals. Students from countries such as Canada and Britain almost always have had health care coverage.
In comparison, the current American scheme of insurance doesn't make much sense. If you get a decent job - one with benefits and not just cash payments in unmarked envelopes - you'll get health insurance from the company. Assuming, of course, that the company doesn't fire you or decide to start cutting benefits and raising co-payments. This is exactly what many companies are doing right now as the nation's economy falters. From this system, we get the often-cited 40 million Americans without health insurance, and many more people whose insurance does not cover serious illnesses.
Only a system of continuous health coverage, that goes with the individual instead of the job, will save us from the scramble for insurance and the fear of being bankrupted by injury and illness. Both doctors and patients must know that bills will be paid and service provided. No one benefits when the first question at the hospital is: "Do you have insurance?"
(Pallavi Guniganti's column appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at pguniganti@cavalierdaily.com.)
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