Student health care proposals seek balance

Some students might have easier access to health care because of a new health reform bill proposed by state Sen. Tom George, R-Kalamazoo, last week.

“If you’re going to go to school, it’s hard to work many hours a week and keep up with your classes,” said Sherry Sofia, chief of staff for George. “It could be those people who have a part-time job and no benefits provided by their employer who are helped.”

The proposal will include two programs. The first program, MI Access, will cover uninsured residents earning less than 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level and the second, MI Coverage, would insure those who earn somewhere between 200 and 300 percent of that level. MI Access essentially would be an expansion of Medicaid and MI Coverage would be a state-funded health insurance policy for lower-income employees.

Coverage is needed by more than 1.2 million uninsured Michigan residents and George said the plan aims to cover more than half of this number. Most students are covered under their parents’ health insurance, but for those who are not, the plan could make a difference, Sofia said.

Some students without health insurance think George’s proposal would be helpful.

“I think that’s a good idea,” business administration junior David Alexa said. “I’m not on my parent’s health insurance anymore and I’m a student so I can’t afford to be paying $500 for insurance.”

Although the proposed plan is popular among uninsured students, it has raised cost concerns for others. Funding health care costs can become a problem, said Leonard Fleck, an MSU professor of philosophy and medical ethics. He fears cuts in higher education and prisons to compensate for the plan costs might be inevitable with no other areas able to absorb cuts in the government.

“On the face it seems like a good and generous thing to do,” Fleck said. “Unfortunately, a plan like that would only encourage mindless spending on costly health care that we probably shouldn’t be funding as a society.”

Funding for the proposal would come from a variety of sources including lower assessments from insurance companies such as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and possibly federal Medicaid money.

Both the state House of Representatives and the state Senate have introduced health reform proposals and are moving toward a compromise.

“I think it’s so important that we have to (reach a compromise) and I think the citizens of the state are demanding it,” state Rep. Marc Corriveau, D-Northville, said.

The House is beginning to work with interest groups to iron out some of the differences between the two proposals. Other health care solutions might exist to provide health insurance for the uninsured, said Edward Rosick, associate clinical director of the MSU Family Medicine Clinic.

“There’s possible solutions, but the problem with any solution is … the commercial insurer and the government entities really don’t want to change what they’re doing right now,” Rosick said.