Nearly 45 million Americans do not have health insurance, according to the National Coalition on Health Care. Noteworthy is that young adults are disproportionately uninsured when compared to the rest of the population. Nearly two out of five college graduates will undergo time without health insurance in the first year after graduation, according to the Center for American Progress.
Richard Simpson has noticed a few reasons why recent graduates do not have health insurance. As SHIP operations manager at University Health Services, he sees many students who are not adequately covered. In the excitement of graduation, people tend to overlook the fact that they are not covered under their parents' insurance anymore, he said. The main reason young adults do not buy insurance, though, is because they are uninformed.
'They feel they're healthy, immune to it,' he said.
He said students need to be reminded that these are necessary costs because at no time in life is anyone immune to injuries and accidents.
Some alumni do not find a job immediately after graduation, meaning they have no health coverage through work. The period between graduating and working, then, is usually time spent uninsured.
Undergrads need to prioritize health care when considering their options after commencement, said Greg Iaccarino, senior career advisor at the L&S Human Ecology office. Students coming to him for career advice ask about salary and rarely mention health insurance.
'I wouldn't necessarily say that that's the first thing that's on their mind, unless I prompt them to talk more about it,' he said.
Simpson said educators and advisors should help students understand that having no coverage at all is a dangerous position to be in and is prohibitively expensive.
National surveys show that the primary reason people are uninsured is because health coverage is too expensive. However, when looking at the staggering prices of medical treatment for the uninsured, young adults should see that health coverage matters.
According to statistics from Meriter Hospital, 202 S. Park St., simply getting stitches can cost $500. Emergency room prices range from $80 to $1,000, depending on the injury's severity. An outpatient procedure such as setting a broken arm costs $4,000, not including physician's fees. Meriter said that in a study based on 239 people, the average cost of an appendectomy for an uninsured person is $14,000.
As graduation looms, students can do many things. They first should become informed of their options, said Erin Hueffner, the marketing and communications specialist at the Wisconsin Alumni Association. Many people are not aware that the WAA offers short-term medical coverage for graduates, a plan that is gaining popularity, she said.
Through SHIP, students can continue their plan for up to six months, at which point they will hopefully have found a job that includes health care, Simpson said. They also have the option to continue coverage with their parents until they find a job. If it is impossible to continue on the family's plan, students need to look into short-term options, he added.
Iaccarino recommends students to search their employer's websites to see if they offer a complete benefits package, or if employees have a certain percentage of their salary deducted for health care. Having employees pay for a portion of their health insurance is becoming more common now, he said.
Finally, students should remember that health care is necessary, although it might not appear that way to a healthy graduate.
As Hueffner said, 'You don't think about it until you're needing it.'
