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CSU’s Insurance Plans Don’t Cut it for Students

One thousand four hundred and forty five dollars…

That is the amount that it costs students to enroll in Colorado State University’s health insurance plan, a cost that is automatically charged to everyone at the beginning of every semester without fail. The price is at least somewhat competitive with the open market, but it is interesting that CSU takes it upon themselves to charge students through the summer months for enrollment in their plan.

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This is despite the fact that many students go home during the summer months, and are no longer around to be covered with the benefits at Hartshorn. Moreover, what of the thousands of students who either graduate or otherwise move on with their lives? They are still forced to pay for coverage they may no longer need or use. It is pretty brilliant business move by CSU to charge these students upfront, who have no choice but to pay for it.

While it is necessary for everyone to purchase health insurance, thankfully most students are still able to use their parents insurance to cover them until they are 26 and this mitigates the cost, however for students that don’t have such a benefit, the additional $1500 dollars lost at the beginning of the semester can be a devastating financial blow.

With the constant increase of tuition, it is becoming more and more expensive to be a successful student at CSU. Perhaps if CSU offered a discounted insurance plan through the University for, ranging around $100 a month or less, the costs could be offset. It is not like we do not have the money, we are putting up buildings left and right, it would just be nice if there weren’t new costs every semester without getting any new benefits from the school.

Furthermore, requiring the primary age group of CSU students to either provide proof of alternative insurance or purchase a plan through CSU is a boon for the college. It is fact that our age group of young adults needs medical attention much less than the rest of the population. Outside of the occasional heavily intoxicated individual, our health concerns are somewhat minor, especially considering that most college students come from better backgrounds in terms of nourishment. Thus, most students will likely never even use the insurance they are submitted to.

Far be it for a simple college student to question the ways of the world, but it seems a bit silly that in order to pay for insurance we will never use, some students can be forced to take out additional loans that they will then be forced to repay at a high rate. To be an insurance broker and a banker would be an excellent profession to be in, when you have people being herded to you to buy the product.

I am not a big fan of the Affordable Care Act, I like the idea of trying to help people and that everyone is now supposedly covered, but still it is laughable that our idea of social health care is to make everyone buy something that may or may not be effective in getting necessary care. On top of this most people still have to pay a large amount of money for anything insurance doesn’t cover. Thus if a really serious problem does come up that students would need to go to the emergency room for, they would likely still have to pay a ton of money to be safe. I wouldn’t mind paying for insurance nearly as much if it actually covered everything I needed no deductible or co-pay nonsense.

Sadly this would require some sort of major social medicine reform, a new tax on the people and for people to actually care about the well being of others. Unfortunately many people in our country decree any type of heavy social reform as socialism. Thus this type of tax forcing everyone to buy insurance when many students probably will not need it, is the likely extent of our great medical healthcare system.

The University is not really to blame for what is happening. In fact the waiver process is seamless and easy to complete. Still, this is a very important issue, and likely touched home to many students. And with costs increasing for people who can scarcely afford it, the University is obligated to explore ways to help students bear the costs of this newfound burden.

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