It’s two weeks into summer break, and you’re stoked. You’re caught up on your beauty sleep and your laundry. Tonight you’re going out, and you plan on rocking the house at your favorite venue. You’ve got money to spend and a sober cab to take you back home when the night is through. You’ve got this one mapped out.
LINUS PEACEABLE INKPENIt’s two weeks into summer break, and you’re stoked. You’re caught up on your beauty sleep and your laundry. Tonight you’re going out, and you plan on rocking the house at your favorite venue. You’ve got money to spend and a sober cab to take you back home when the night is through. You’ve got this one mapped out.
Unfortunately, what you didn’t plan on was the pile of vomit that you stepped in while making your way into the club, causing you to fall and break your ankle. The high heels that looked so good earlier in the evening are now your express ticket to pain city.
Instead of going home in a cab, you’re taking a one-way ride to the nearest hospital in the back of an ambulance. Because it’s summer and you’re a student, you have no insurance.
Welcome. You just joined the ranks of countless Americans who find themselves uninsured.
But wait: It’s a new academic year and a new insurance policy. You needn’t go through ordeals like this. Now, thanks to recent changes in Portland State’s student insurance policies, you’re covered regardless whether you are enrolled in classes or taking the summer off.
Changes such as this come with a cost.
Recently, students have noticed a hefty increase in the cost of their student insurance plan.
Compared to the previous cost of $444 per year, the current price tag reads $1,680 per year, a huge increase that’s left students grumbling in the halls and secretly suspecting the school of some devious plan meant to line the coffers of the university.
Rest assured that recent changes, while initially uncomfortable, aren’t get-rich schemes generated by the administration; rather, the changes are meant to offer students more bang for their buck.
“Changes were long overdue,” said Angela Abel, marketing and communication coordinator at PSU’s Center for Student Health and Counseling.
Each year, PSU receives a loss report. These reports showed that students were using their plans and receiving more benefits than their plans were intended to provide, creating what Abel coined “a death spiral,” a no-win situation for everyone. When this happens, insurance companies end up paying more—and so do students. To compensate for their losses, insurance providers raise rates. Unfortunately, these rate increases aren’t accompanied by coverage increases.
In an attempt to remedy the situation, administrators began the process of finding a better policy for PSU students. After receiving quotes from various companies, it was determined that Aetna was the best provider, and for good reason.
Benefits accompanying the new plan are innumerable. For instance, perscription coverage: Atena will still cover your prescription costs after a co-payment of $20 for generic drugs and up to $40 for name brands. Birth control is 100 percent covered. This change amounts to huge savings for students while also providing peace of mind.
Now, if you get sick, you needn’t decide between a visit to the doctor or paying your rent. You can do both. Pay your rent. Go to the doctor. In fact, your new policy wants you to be healthy, which is why preventative medicine is also covered.
Proponents of the new plan contend students ought to have a choice in deciding if they want health coverage. In an ideal world, maybe, but by choosing to attend PSU you automatically agree to certain requirements. As a student you are required to carry insurance. Period.
However, unlike the previous plan that students couldn’t opt out of, now students have a choice. If you have a better plan, you can decide to forgo PSU’s coverage in favor of your previously existing policy. If mom and dad’s policy has you covered, you’re set. However, according to Abel, “Many parents are choosing to enroll their children in PSU’s health plan because it costs them less while providing better benefits.”
Still, other critics suggest that students, for the most part, are young and healthy and don’t need this kind of coverage. I hate to break it to those naysayers, but the reason we have insurance is to protect us from the unforeseeable. No one knows the future, and unfortunately we’re all vulnerable to mishaps.
Achilles had his heel, and you may have an evening out that lands you in the hospital. As a student at PSU, you are currently covered, so no worries. Now go out there and be healthy, have fun, rock the house and break a leg.
