As students at UW-Madison push for an UW System-wide automatic enrollment program for student insurance, resistance from other system institutions to switch to such a plan may stall such a change.
United Council, a student government for the UW System, met Friday, and student insurance programs were one topic representatives discussed.
Currently at UW-Madison, the Student Health Insurance Plan is self-initiated.
\Because [SHIP] enrollment is so low, it becomes almost impossible to get coverage because the risk pool is so incredibly high,"" said Jeff Pertl, a UW-Madison senior and Associated Students of Madison representative.
Last year, Pertl estimated the insurance carrier for SHIP lost $1.3 million on UW-Madison.
As a remedy, an automatic enrollment program for the entire UW System was proposed, in which all students would be registered for the insurance, unless they state otherwise.
But not all UW System schools have a dismal situation like UW-Madison.
""I guess the other schools are upset because we're taking initiatives to get health insurance without waiting for the whole system-wide thing,"" said Brad Ladwig, a UW-Madison sophomore and member of the Student Services Finance Committee. ""But we didn't really have a choice. ... SHIP is dead.""
UW-Eau Claire is an example of a university not wanting an automatic enrollment program.
""That program probably isn't what we want because the system would be deciding,"" said Kelly Whitkowski, vice president of UW-Eau Claire's student senate.
With a system-wide program, the insurance premiums would most likely be less due to the resulting larger applicant pool.
Pertl said while other UW System schools are disinclined to adopt an automatic enrollment program right now, they may feel differently in the future if they suffer from circumstances like those at UW-Madison.
""They are hesitant to jump on board because there's no pressing need,"" Pertl said. ""Sooner or later there will be but we are getting hit first.""
Either way, a decision needs to be made within the next month, he said, as to which program the university will use next year. He said he did not think an automatic enrollment program would be in place next fall at UW-Madison.
