Healthcare after graduation

When graduation day comes, insurance goes. In the upstate New York area, including Albany, a full-time, non-smoking, 24-year-old female student with no disabilities ought to find private health insurance quite affordable, right? Or so I believed.

   The first quote was from Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, a plan that a student might begrudgingly pay for. Only $158.41 per month, but it doesn’t cover doctor’s visits or prescription drugs. The brochure explains in relentless detail the many features of this “Traditional Plus Hospital Program.” No specialist visits or gynecological, prenatal, obstetric care. No outpatient hospital visits. The plan is only designed to cover emergency room hospital bills. Thus, its brochure ought to be, “If you are really about to die, we’ll help, and not a minute sooner.”

   If the college graduate wants something a little bit sexier, at a higher price, the GHI Alliance Value Plan offers a PPO (Participating Provider Organization) program at $451.84 per month. These plans are essentially membership clubs, involving a network of doctors, insurance companies, and bureaucrats; a pool which one can buy into and ostensibly receive reduced costs in medical care. This particular quote for our college grad however, does not cover basic health exams or doctor visits. It simply offers $50 for emergency room visits and $10 for generic prescription drugs.

   PPO plans also include what is, in friendly terms, referred to as “utilization review.” Meaning the insurance company decides whether or not they think you ought to be treated, when, and by whom. It seems that our young college grad should be reminded that this isn’t Soviet Russia. In the land of the free (market), our health care decisions are made by privately employed bureaucrats.

   If you want frilly extras such as doctor’s visits and hospitalization fee deductibles, you must purchase into the Empire Direct Pay HMO for $1,052.76 per month or $12,633.12 a year. Though the plan covers just about everything one would need for proper medical care, co-pays are required for all services. If you have enough money to afford all the fees and premium, you probably didn’t need to go to college in the first place. The low $15 doctor’s visits are reasonable. The price scale for prescription drugs is based on the number of days the drug is administered. $500 co-pays on hospitalization, but only 20% of the cost to deliver a child. This plan is excellent for that infertile college student or recent grad that has an extra $1000 between the futon cushions each month.

   As many politicians such as Hillary Clinton have explained, young people simply think they are invincible. It’s not the cost of care that keeps them out of the system. It’s their positive attitudes that might kill them one day.

   So perhaps the college student seeking health insurance ought to be younger, a 21-year-old? Surprise: such a student has to pay the same amount for the same three plans. In fact, there is no drop in premiums until the age of 29.

   All SUNY colleges are required to offer some form of health insurance to full-time students. UAlbany has partnered with United Health, which provides basic insurance for only about $1,483 per year.

    The bill used to be attached to a student’s tuition, but as of 2009 the University officially changed the enrollment process and students must now enroll directly through United Health and choose a PPO.

    Plans can vary, but all students are only covered for medical care outside of the University Health Center that is within their chosen PPO network. This limits medical options. After all, it is called “The Limited Benefit Plan.” It does not cover vision, dental, pre-existing conditions, or “symptomatic complaints of the feet.” However, while in college this appears to be the best, though not the most righteous health insurance plan.

   For students who are not immediately employed full-time after graduation, healthcare costs may soar to over $12,000 a year. If such a student is not disabled, does not have children, and is still searching for adequate employment; he or she is not eligible for Medicaid. Understandably, the government says, “Take your bachelor’s degree and get a job.”

   After applying for so many insurance quotes, it was only a matter of time before the phone calls began pouring in.

   I decided to tell one of the insurance telemarketers that I was just a writer doing a little bit of research, and was never interested in purchasing health insurance. The irate Blue Cross representative snapped, “A lot of people make that mistake. You’re going to get a lot more phone calls. I’ll take you off our list, since you’re wasting everyone’s time here.” I tried to thank him, but he hung up on me.

   Hopefully, politics breeds affordability in healthcare through one of many reform bills. But don’t hold your breath, you may pass out, fall down and break your face. And then the first thought that will occur to you while regaining consciousness will be, “How the hell am I going to afford this?”