Strep throat. The flu. Mono.
College students aren’t always the healthiest individuals – and usually not the richest either. With the rising importance, and cost, of health insurance, Fairfield has implemented a new “hard waiver” health insurance policy to ensure that all students are covered.
Under the new policy, the University will automatically enroll all full-time undergraduates in its sponsored health insurance policy for the 2008-2009 academic year.
All students will be billed $856 for the University-sponsored insurance. If students have access to health insurance through other means, they then may waive the coverage and receive a full credit on their tuition bill.
“My family has our own health insurance but I think that it is important that the University mandates, and provides, some sort of insurance for students who don’t necessarily have the best coverage,” said Samantha Tuffarelli ’09.
The policy that requires all Fairfield students to carry health insurance has been in effect for well over 15 years. However, though students were required to have health insurance, there was no process to ensure compliance.
“This is a process change, not a policy change, which will ensure all of our students have health care coverage,” said Gary Nelson, director of Health Services.
From April 1 through June 30, returning students will have the opportunity to waive the plan via StagWeb. This waiver will result in a full credit, which will be reflected on the July bill. Access to the waiver will be available on Tuesday, April 1. Incoming freshmen may begin the waiver process on or after July 1.
The process will be outlined in a letter to parents and students sent out the first week of April.
The new policy will be managed by Gallagher Koster Insurance Agency, which manages many other Connecticut university hard waiver policies, including Sacred Heart, Trinity and Wesleyan, as well as Massachusetts accounts at Boston College and College of the Holy Cross.
According to insurance companies, young adulthood is deemed a high-risk period in terms of emergency room visits and experimentation with drugs and alcohol.
“I cannot imagine going through college without health insurance. There’s no way that a student, or even parents in most cases, can afford the expense of medical bills nowadays,” said Kimberly Owen ’08.
Despite the importance of health insurance coverage, young adults of college age are the most likely group to be uninsured, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Young adults make up nearly one-fifth of the country’s total uninsured population.
“This initiative is a real benefit to students and could mean the difference in terms of receiving adequate and timely care,” said Dean of Students Tom Pellegrino.
Colleges usually follow one of four models for health coverage: voluntary, soft waiver, hard waiver or mandatory. Fairfield has implemented a “soft waiver” policy up until this year.
“The rationale for this long-standing policy is straightforward,” said Nelson. “Health insurance is absolutely necessary for entry into the health care system, and lack of health insurance is a real deterrent for obtaining care.”
The soft waiver policy required students to purchase the institution’s plan or have health insurance coverage comparable to the institution’s plan.
Students who claimed to have comparable coverage could waive the college plan, but were not required to provide evidence of comparable coverage.
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