The Paper Trail

Minnesota Students Slipping Through Healthcare Cracks

November 11, 2009 RSS Feed Print

At the University of Minnesota, you have to have healthcare. Period.

Yet some students are uninsured, the Minnesota Daily reports.

A loophole in the school's healthcare registration system allows students to give false information to avoid the school's Student Health Benefit Plan. The plan costs $151, the Daily says, but students can opt out of the plan by filling out a private insurance form. Because only about 25 percent of the private insurance forms are audited (for budget reasons), many students are slipping through the cracks.

The revelation is tied to a larger-scale problem: dropouts. Carl Anderson, the chief operating officer of Boynton Health Services at the University of Minnesota, says that medical costs are the No. 1 reason students drop out of school.

The university's plan has a $3 million lifetime maximum, covers preventive care, does not have a deductible, and cannot exclude enrollees based on pre-existing conditions. Additionally, the plan can be paid for by financial aid, the report says.

Tags:
health insurance,
colleges

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