With elements of President Barack Obama’s new health care law going into effect this year, graduating Boston University students will be able to take advantage of some parts of the new legislation right away.
This year, people will be able to stay on their parents’ health insurance plans until the age of 26. If they get sick, insurers will have to continue coverage, and if they get a new insurance plan, that the plan will have to cover check-ups charging co-pays.
“As someone who’s going into [an unstable] job market, it’s nice to know I will be able to get coverage,” said Matt Wall, the treasurer for the BU College Democrats and the president of Voices for Choices.
“I’m pretty sure I can speak for BUCD saying we support the bill with the reconciliation fix while adding the caveat that it’s merely a first step,” Wall, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, added. “It’s an important first step, it does a lot of good things, but as with all other important pieces of legislation it can be and probably will be improved over time.”
Many students echoed his statement, saying they particularly believed the extension of available coverage under their parents’ plans would benefit them.
“For me I think it’s great. Health coverage until you’re 26 &- it’s good news for me,” said Nailah Thompson, a CAS freshman.
At the same time, Thompson expressed concerns over the provision’s cost.
“I’m not sure really how it affects the economy,” Thompson said. “I’m concerned about how it’s getting funded.”
Chelsey Eccleston, a junior in CAS with an chronic elbow injury that requires her to take painkillers, offered no such reservations about the provision.
“I have no idea what I’ll be doing at the age of 22,” Eccleston said. “Will I still be in school? Will I be working a nine-to-five job in some cubicle? I’m far more worried about my future plans than I am about health insurance. But I know that if I ever did end up hurt and I was no longer covered by my parent’s plan, they would be unable to help me through whatever health issues I would have.”
Her elbow, she said, is “a life-long pain that I will, unfortunately, have to deal with for potentially the rest of my life unless doctors can cure me.” With that pain comes expensive visits to the doctor, X-rays and medication, she said.
“A fresh-out-of-college student with student loans over their head would not be able to afford those health bills,” she added.
As the plan comes fully into effect in 2014, except for a tax on expensive insurance plans that comes in 2018, people will be required to buy insurance or pay a fine and insurance companies will no longer be able to deny people coverage based on preexisting conditions. In return, the government will subsidize everyone with incomes up to four times the poverty level, and tax some companies and individuals to pay for the plan.
Though the law is largely expected to help older individuals who on average pay more in health costs than people in their 20’s, some said there were still enough incentives in the bill for students to support it.
“You can’t plan on not being sick,” Wall said. “It’s not good policy to avoid going to the doctor until you get sick. Having health insurance helps you get preventative care. Is it really smart to roll the dice on health?”
Associate professor of political science Andrew Reeves said the bill affects almost everyone, not just people in their 20s.
“As people get a job, go to work, they often feel compelled to keep that job because if they lose it, they lose health insurance,” he said. “If losing my job doesn’t mean losing a cancer treatment for my sick wife, I think most people are better off.”
If the plan, like other entitlements, proves politically popular to its beneficiaries, the Democratic Party could see a lasting political benefit, said Reeves, who specializes in public opinion and elections in American politics.
“When you expand services the government officers, it’s almost like creating clients,” Reeves said. After Social Security was passed, he said, “seniors got involved to fight for Social Security and became more politically active because they got checks from the government.”
However, Reeves said health care is still a “confusing, frightening issue where people are really unsure” of what’s in the final legislation; he even included himself in that group. He said it seems that Obama’s team is not communicating the details of the plan in an effective way.
“When the plan comes into effect, it will probably be good for Obama in terms of his 2012 election,” said Reeves, but due to the electorate’s confusion, “in 2010 we’re not going to have that yet.”
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