Health coverage extended for students

By Amy Hendricks

In today’s society, it is hard for students to get by financially without health insurance. Just breaking a bone or going in for a sprained ankle can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars without health insurance.

According to the Minnesota Department of Health, young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 are more than twice as likely to be uninsured than the general Minnesotan population.

Because this age group is generally in secondary school or living independently, it makes it difficult for the average 18 to 24 year old to pay for health insurance.

“For people who have to pay for rent, car costs, school, books, food, etc., coughing up money for health insurance is the last thing they want to do, especially since it seems that people who do have health insurance end up paying for most of their medical bill anyway,” says NCC student Shaida Vafaei.

Vafaei lives with her sister and brother-in-law in Lakeville. She is currently under her brother-in-law’s health insurance plan provided by his company. When Vafaei heard that she could still be covered until the age of 25, she simply exclaimed, “That’s pretty sweet!”

Recently, the state’s legislative branch has taken action to lower the number of young people who do not have health insurance.

On the first day of this year, a new law went into effect that would allow young adults under the age of 25 to remain under their parents’ health insurance as a dependent.

The new law changed the dependent age from 19 years old to 25 years old.

According to the Minnesota Department of Health, out of approximately 266,000 uninsured
Minnesotan residents, about 37,000 of the uninsured are between the ages of 18 and 24.

Many Minnesota schools have taken note of these numbers and some require uninsured students to sign up for the school’s student health insurance policy.

The University of Minnesota is just one of many schools who offers a student health insurance program.

At other schools, such as St. Olaf, health insurance is mandatory. All students must carry health insurance, and those without are automatically enrolled into the school’s health insurance program.

This new law also encompasses those who are not enrolled as full time students.

Unlike other states, the Minnesota law claims that the dependent does not have to be a full-time student, or even enrolled in a school at all.

This helps out those who are going to school part time, or just started a job, or both, and don’t have sufficient money to pay for health insurance.

Throughout the past couple of years, Minnesota has been one of the top states with percent of residents with health insurance. By passing this new law, the state strives to raise the standard of its residents’ quality of living, and to set an example for other states to follow.