Lack of health insurance among college students a concern in flu season
Young people 6 months to 24 years old are among the groups more susceptible to the H1N1 flu virus.
That includes much of the undergraduate college population, which often forgoes health insurance.
The lack of health insurance among many young adults was highlighted locally this week by the death of a recent Miami University graduate, reportedly due to complications of the H1N1 flu virus. The former student, still living in Oxford, delayed medical treatment because she had no health insurance, according to a friend and former roommate.
Miami mandates health insurance for all of its students. That's not the case at all local colleges. And even college mandates that require students to carry health insurance can be murky.
Take the University of Dayton, which requires students to have health insurance. About 7 percent of the school's 7,000 undergraduates carry health insurance through the university at a cost of $726 or more per year, said Sister Annette Schmeling, vice president of student development. Many others get coverage through their parents, jobs or a spouse.
But UD has a so-called 'soft-waiver' policy through which students can opt out of the university's health insurance plan by simply saying they have insurance through another source.
'We take them at their word,' Schmeling said.
In contrast, Miami has a 'hard-waiver' policy, requiring its students to produce an affidavit that they are covered by another health-insurance policy. About 10 percent of students generally sign up for Miami's plan, which costs $774 per year, university spokeswoman Claire Wagner said.
Wright State University requires the 2,800 students who reside in campus housing and its 632 international students (virtually all of whom live off-campus) to carry health insurance, though they can opt to be covered by another source, provided it's U.S.-based.
But the rest of Wright State's nearly 18,800 undergraduate and graduate students who commute are not required to carry health insurance. The university doesn't track how many of its students are actually insured.
Roughly 2,000 students enroll in Wright State's health-insurance program, which costs $227 per quarter, said Leatha Ross, Wright State's student health services director.
UD and Wright State students may be seen at their universities' respective health centers, even if they don't have health insurance, officials said.
Central State University automatically enrolls its students in a health plan that costs $782 per year, regardless of whether they're already insured.
Sinclair Community College, which provides no student housing, does not require its students to carry health insurance. Between 11,000 and 12,000 of its 25,500 students are 24 years old or younger, spokeswoman Natasha Baker said.
Sinclair will offer employees and students free H1N1 vaccinations. Sinclair's nursing students will obtain clinical experience by administering the shots, Baker said.
UD has had one confirmed case of H1N1; Central State, none. Wright State has had seven students report flu-like symptoms, none of which have been confirmed as H1N1.
