I was very little the first time I became aware of the inequitable state of health care in the U.S.
During a trip to the emergency room, we discovered that I had a coded insurance card that distinguished me as a staff relative because my father was a doctor in that hospital. This simply isn’t a fair way to assess injury and decide who needs the most care.
While no longer in place at that hospital, the policy is only one small example of how our disorganized system fails to ensure equal and adequate treatment for all.
The U.S. needs universal health care to move forward—for a lot of reasons, including the fact that in countries with universal health care, providers are more concerned with the healthiest option than the cost. Patients are more likely to seek preventative care and get regular checkups. And women facing unintentional pregnancies no longer have to worry about employment or a lifetime of health care expenses when deciding whether to maintain a pregnancy.
Compare that to here, where an unintentional pregnancy is currently the number one reason women fall below the poverty line.
While we’ve recently heard a lot of debates about health care—and will continue to hear more over the next couple months—what’s most pertinent to Portland State students is how your own health insurance policy may impact the level of care you receive.
PSU students have a new medical health insurance plan. Looking it over, I was pleased to see benefits concerning reproductive and sexual health care that I consider essential: maternity expenses and birth control coverage. After reading through the policy I called Student Health and Counseling to verify a few questions, because some of what I read seemed almost too good to be true.
I discovered that elective abortion services will be covered at 80 percent of the negotiated charge, as will transgender surgery expenses and the HPV vaccination (though the process will be slightly different for men).
My only criticism is that if you want a non-generic brand of birth control when the generic is available, the co-payment’s around $40.
Students with comparable insurance have until Oct. 7 to waive the plan. Before you waive the insurance in favor of another policy, I urge you consider some things pertaining to your sexual health.
First, take into account what services you want your parents to know about. If you don’t want them to know you’re on birth control or being tested while on their insurance, you can get around this, but may have to pay out of pocket.
Then look at whether your policy is in- or out-of-state. You could run into issues if your plan’s in a state currently fighting against the birth control mandate.
One of my favorite parts of the Affordable Care Act is that children may stay on their parents’ insurance until age 26 whether or not they live at home, are employed or are married.
However, while employer-provided insurance will cover maternity care, this isn’t the case for some insurance plans where you’re listed as a dependent. Getting pregnant may mean the end of this coverage.
There are many other situations to look at, but the point is: Carefully examine any policy to make sure it isn’t detrimental to your ability to take care of yourself.