The Student Health Insurance Plan cannot survive as it currently stands. Despite increasing costs and decreasing benefits, SHIP lost $1.3 million last year alone. Though controversial, the opt-out automatic enrollment plan is the best practical option available. Through such a plan, students would be enrolled in SHIP unless they chose to opt out.
SHIP is absolutely essential to UW-Madison. More than 1,000 students depend on it for affordable health insurance. Sickness or injury to an uninsured student can be a serious financial blow. For example, an uninsured student would have to pay the cash price of $125 for augmentin, a relatively common antibiotic, whereas an insured student would only pay a co-payment of around $10 or $20.
Though a sickness like the flu would most likely not cause serious financial problems, the financial burdens of more severe medical emergencies could force a student to drop out of school. SHIP, like other insurance programs, aims to prevent such a tragedy from occurring.
Approximately 20 percent of UW-Madison students are uninsured and another 20 percent are underinsured. Though the reasons for the lack of insurance vary, one reason is its high cost ($996 per student per year). With some changes to SHIP, more students would be able to participate in a cheaper, higher quality insurance program.
The implementations of similar automatic enrollment programs across the country have resulted in costs decreasing by between 20 and 30 percent. In addition, many universities are implementing more stringent insurance requirements than automatic enrollment. At the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, for example, students are required to sign up for the school's health insurance plan unless they can prove coverage by outside insurance.
Unfortunately, past attempts to save or improve SHIP have not succeeded. Increased advertising has not worked. SHIP used to spend tens of thousands of dollars on advertising and mailings before switching to a strong e-mail campaign. Neither made a significant difference in increasing participation. No minor adjustments will succeed in saving SHIP.
The opt-out automatic enrollment system is the least constraining feasible option, and should be implemented through the Registrar's Office. SHIP would then be listed on the tuition bill, along with an opportunity to opt out of the program.
The program does not aim to deceive students. Instead, it aims to make students think carefully about their insurance needs before deciding whether they need SHIP. If the automatic enrollment plan is implemented, SHIP must (and plans to) launch a serious marketing campaign to ensure that students are aware of the new plan. None of the projected marketing strategies can be eliminated'booths in both unions, e-mails, fliers and advertisements must all be utilized to prevent students from buying insurance they do not want. Furthermore, it must be easy to opt out of SHIP in a number of different ways, including through a form included with tuition bills, a quick e-mail, a postcard or a visit to SHIP's office. Student input must also be encouraged every step of the way.
If SHIP implements a strong marketing campaign and makes it easy to opt out, students will not be signing up and paying for insurance they don't want. And SHIP will survive by asking students to make a decision about their insurance needs. Those who already have insurance or choose not to partake in the program will have an easy out. And those who need insurance, along with those who previously may not have realized they needed insurance (some of the 40 percent of uninsured and underinsured), will have SHIP brought to their attention more effectively. With this increased enrollment creating a wider risk pool, SHIP can improve'hopefully with lower costs and increased benefits'to provide an insurance plan that benefits all students.
