Florida Health Insurance for Students
December 02, 2008
Graduates of Florida A&M and Florida State University have received numerous speeches and congratulatory gifts, but one real-world need many of them have and did not receive as a gift is health insurance. With a myriad of short-term insurance policies available, young adults are now stuck between their diploma and a hard place.
“Many of them do not know there is an affordable insurance solution for them because they never had to buy health insurance,” said Ellen Laden, public-relations director for Golden Rule Insurance Co. “Basically, each year hundreds of thousands of students join America’s uninsured.”
According to research compiled by the Commonwealth Fund, 38 percent of college graduates go through some uninsured period in their first year after graduation. Golden Rule Insurance is an Indianapolis-based individual insurer affiliate of UnitedHealthCare. For more than 20 years it primarily has provided short-term insurance for graduates and adults going through a transition from one insurer to another.
www.EasyToInsureME.com offers short-term insurance policies for terms as brief as 30 days. Its owner, Chad Levin, started writing the policies more than 5 years ago because of the recent increase in college population.
Last month, Latoya Harris graduated from FSU with a degree in English. Unlike her classmates, Harris was without health insurance before graduation. When she turned 22 in January 2006, her parents’ insurer, Kaiser Permanente, dropped her, even though she could show identification proving she was a full-time student.
“Thankfully, I haven’t had any major medical emergencies, so I haven’t had to worry about paying a huge amount of money,” Harris said. “Clearly, it can happen to anyone, so it’s just been a blessing that it hasn’t occurred.”
A representative from Kaiser Permanente said it is up to an individual employer when dependents are dropped from coverage, even if they are full-time students when their policy expires.
To get by, Harris said she visited the clinic at FSU where she only had to pay for prescriptions. She said it can be scary to graduate and not have health insurance and that “it kind of kicked in for me: ‘Hmm. I need to find a job and get health insurance.“
Harris has found a position in Clearwater and does not have a probationary period before her health insurance begins. She may be one of the fortunate graduates. According to a 2006 article, “Rite of Passage? Why Young Adults Become Uninsured and How New Policies Can Help” (Commonwealth Fund), adults between 19 and 29 are the fastest-growing demographic without health insurance. In 2004, the most recent year available, 13.7 million adults in that age group lacked health insurance, which is 2.5 million more than was reported in 2000. The Commonwealth Fund will release statistics this month updating the figures.
“Because most students are under their parents’ insurance, they don’t take the time to research it,” Harris said. She added it’s “definitely wise” for students to educate themselves.
Kylan Chavious is one who educated himself. Before he graduated from FAMU with a degree in computer information systems and taking a position at Lockheed Martin, he researched the possibility of a short-term policy. He does not have to worry about a lapse in health insurance because his parents’ policy with WellPath, a subsidiary of Duke Select, covers him until he begins at Lockheed in late June.
“It’s like the saying ‘better safe than sorry,” Chavious said. “That could not only be for your sake, but that could be for future children of yours or your spouse.”
Do business with a well-known company that has an extensive network both in Florida and across the country. (Network discounts can make health care much more affordable because rates are negotiated for the consumer.)
Find a plan that offers a wide range of deductibles (the higher the deductible, the lower the cost) and choice of months of coverage.
Determine which payment options (one time, monthly?) best fit your budget.
Make certain that you understand the plan and that the application process is a simple, quick one.
Make certain that you can drop the plan at any time without penalty if you become eligible for coverage by an employer.
Here this nice Video about health insurance
www.staysmartstayhealthy.com Gary’s boss recently announced that the company could no longer afford to provide him with health insurance and stay in business. So Gary had to check out his health insurance coverage options. Another healthcare video from Stay Smart, Stay Healthy.
The answer is easy. MORE COMPETITION
good video!
How do we organize to change this?
text and without a seeming understanding that some people are profiting off keeping the average joe, jane, Juan, LaToya and Mei Woo frombeing able to know that their families will be provided the necessary quality health care when their family finds themselves dealing with a health issue.
jfouratt calls folks greedy and selfish and blind, then admits doing so is a cheap shot. jfouratt really says nothing, just spouts ideology. jfouratt is not really worth paying any more attention to..
that’s what I can’t get some to see. Local taxs are mostly for local property owners, not the whole nation. They would really be paying high taxs if the fed taxs for local fire and police. the if their local payed in more, they would still get less, after the governmnet and their “robinhood plans”.
one we are not in Canada we are in the US. But you are making it like you don’t pay a penny. But tey every country that does have a national health care system pays the highest taxs.
As all as it is truely free than I’ll stand up. but that means hospitals,doctors and nurses will all have to work for free.
They do that and I’ll stand up.
Isn’t it funny that nobody ever mentions the Communist Terrorist State of Israel and their “wonderful” MANDATORY guvmint health care system. With their income tax rates of 50%, and NO CHOICE, who in their right, freedom loving mind would want to be treated like cattle????
Uninformed men say stupid things when they do not think about community rather than their own self center needs …needs I would suggest that unless they belong to that extremely small group of wealthy people .. real wealth … will seriously affect them when they begin to deal with a health crises ans what it costs the average citizen..
Hey dingbat if you reduced the budget for the DEPT of WAR by 25% and applied the amount to pay for universal health care, everyone in the USA would be covered without raising taxes.
I just wear Alex Chiu’s immortality rings and H have no health problems what so ever. No health insurance needed.
No kidding, Angleboot, and these people want to put the people responsible for this budget in control of healthcare? lol, the the sky is the limit! Of course the government can make it look like your health care is cheaper, they just defer the cost to your grandkid’s grandkids!
And of course, there goes the privacy of your medical records. One the government holds them they’ll never need a subpeona to get them. Oh, but right, the government never, ever, abuses their power, right?
Re third party, I already said insurance was a third party, what’s your point?
Um, NoelleTs, the police and fire are not national programs but local. Not all localities handle then the same way. Some don’t even have them. And even if they were socialized at the national level, are you really trying to make the argument that if we have one socialized agency then we should have no objection to making any other socialized? i.e. Once we let one in, we may as well become a fully socialist country?
selfishness and greed is undermining the very principles of equality that this country was founded on these selfish rants about taxes without any con
Anyone who thinks the present system is good must have never been sick, once they get sick (and it will happen) they will see just how bad the system is. Also ask any Canadian if they would switch with America.
Greed and selfishness are un-American ….. We all can learn fron the European models of health care and make our own US version. Name calling is a cheap shot … and unless those people here commenting belong to the millionaire class they are being blinded to the reality of their and their neighbors health insurance empending crisis.
Google change single_payer
BULLSHIT!!! just since Obama been in office taxs have gone up on just about everything. 22 new deparments of government have been open. How are we going to pay for that,NEW TAXS!!
the governmet will charge a tax just to bring the troops home.
Because they are so blinded by their ideology that facts and reasonable arguments that disagree with them don’t register with them. I saw one single payer advocate saying something like “the health care insurance industry is making 117% profit compared to 5% for the S&P”. Never mind that “117% profit” is mathematically impossible and the health care insurance profits average the same as the S&P at 5%…. You can only say something that stupid if you are blinded by your ideology.