The UW System Board of Regents is forming a committee to analyze and potentially alter the system's current health insurance policies, according to Larry Rubin, associate vice president for the UW System.
""What we are doing currently is not sustainable, and we are concerned about what appears to be a growing number of students who are either uninsured or underinsured,"" Rubin said.
The committee would probably begin work by the end of the semester, depending on the H1N1 situation, and would submit its recommendation by the end of the spring semester, Rubin said.
According to Rubin, the committee will aim to solve the problems inherent in the system's voluntary insurance model that currently gives students little incentive to purchase university insurance like UW-Madison's Student Health Insurance Program, leading to rising premiums.
""Health costs are always going up, so in order to provide a reasonably priced, high-quality health insurance policy to students, we have to look at a different way of doing business,"" Rubin said.
He said the committee would research health insurance models throughout the country, including systems in which all students must purchase some form of insurance. Five Big Ten universities currently enforce mandatory coverage to increase applicant pools and keep their insurance costs down, but Rubin said the committee has no ""preconceived notions"" and wouldn't necessarily recommend any change.
Another possible solution to the rising premiums would be to negotiate a group insurance policy for all UW schools. Currently, three UW System schools, including UW-Madison, buy plans separately from the rest of the system, Rubin said.
Sarah Van Orman, executive director of UW-Madison's University Health Services, will serve on the committee along with another health director, two student representatives, faculty, risk management staff and other representatives from impacted groups. Van Orman said other models to consider might include better promotion of health insurance or recommending minimum levels of coverage to students.
Ruth Swisher, UW-Whitewater's director of health services, will join Van Orman and said the committee must piece together the good and bad from various models, keeping rising university costs in mind at all times.
""We'd have to look at, ‘Would this be worth it for the greater good?'"" Swisher said.
