A new Department of Health and Human Services regulation issued early last month designed to ensure quality care for college students will impact the Cal State Long Beach student health insurance plan.
The regulation attempts to address the limits and flaws in student plans by allowing for protections under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the leading statute in last year’s heath care reform. The federal law specifies student health insurance plans provided by colleges as a type of individual health coverage.
By classifying the student health insurance plan as an individual plan, students will get the same comprehensive health insurance benefits that the rest of the nation is guaranteed.
“Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, college students will have more control over their health care,” Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement. “This rule would ensure that these plans remain a viable, affordable option for students while guaranteeing that they are regulated consistently and offer transparent benefits to students.”
Cal State Long Beach Associated Students Inc. Executive Director Richard Haller said, on average, about 500 students are enrolled in the UnitedHealthCare plan offered on-campus by ASI.
Tony Sinay, professor and department chair of the health care administration program, said he believes our university student health plan offers standard coverage that is comparable to insurance available to the general public, however, many students stay on their parents’ plan because it’s convenient.
“Most students are covered under their parents’ policies, and due to the change under the Affordable Care Act, will continue to be dependent on their parents’ health insurance plan until the age of 26,” Haller said.
The new regulation will protect students in three different ways.
Student health plans will no longer include lifetime limits that allow insurance providers to end coverage after they pay a previously set dollar amount in medical costs.
Most student health plans offer limited benefits with low lifetime dollar limits on health care making this an important part of the regulation, Haller said.
“When the provisions are applied — specifically after Sept. 23, 2012 — the revisions will be fully modified to comply with the Affordable Care Act’s annual limit restrictions,” Haller said.
For students, the second of these protections guarantees coverage even if they get sick suddenly. Insurance companies can no longer drop coverage when students fall ill.
The third protection prevents insurance providers from denying or excluding coverage for students under 19 years old because of pre-existing medical conditions.
The new rule makes it mandatory for student health insurance providers to clearly disclose whether the student’s plan meets all requirements laid out in the Affordable Care Act.
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