The hotly debated Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, goes into effect next year and has left many KSU students divided over whether to support the law.
The bill, signed into law in 2010 and upheld by the Supreme Court in 2012, contains thousands of written pages aimed at expanding access of affordable health care to tens of millions of uninsured Americans. The law requires that all Americans have health insurance by 2014 or pay a tax penalty.
Feb. 15, 2014, is the last day that Americans can get coverage and evade a penalty for not having insurance. The maximum penalty for not having coverage will be $285 per family or 1 percent of income, whichever is greater. By 2016, the penalty will increase to $2,085 per family or 2.5 percent of income, according to a June 2013 CNN article.
This new law has emerged with strong opposition toward it resulting in the recent government shutdown. Technical difficulties with the website have left a number of citizens unsure and untrusting of the new plan.
Junior Business Manager Major Lauren McMaster worries about her Veterinary Hospital’s ability to provide quality health insurance to its employers. She said she also worries that the government will become too involved with her private medical information.
“I don’t like the idea of the government having access to my personal health information,” said McMaster.
This semester, the Student Health Services physician and nurse practitioners accept commercial health insurance. KSU students covered under the university-sponsored United Health Care will not be required to change their plans in 2014 since it meets all of the federal standards, said assistant director Steve McCormick.
“I encourage all students to have health insurance, definitely, said Director of Health and Human Services Kathleen Gunchick. “It will make the cost of their health care less, especially if they get sick [and] will reduce their out of pocket cost.”
Health fees, which are $51 in the Spring and Fall semesters and $26 for Summer semester, are included in student fees and tuition. They provide coverage for gynecologists, endocrinologists, psychologists, and soon dermatologists. Although those fees are low compared to other universities around the country, Gunchick says health insurance is still incredibly important since it reduces out of pocket costs for lab fees, minor procedures and prescriptions.
In the past couple of weeks, Student Heath Services has seen a student come in with appendicitis in need of immediate surgery, colon cancer, and a student in need of heart surgery.
“Had the students not had insurance, you can imagine how devastating it would be financially, because those things aren’t even expected,” said Gunchick. “You are young and healthy one day and the next day you are faced with a very serious life-threatening problem.”
McCormick estimated more than 50 percent of KSU students don’t have health insurance.
Uninsured Junior Psychology major Mare Tupper said that although she is excited about the possibility of affordable health care, her feelings toward the ACA are “a little bit split.”
“I’m kind of excited about it, but I don’t like it because they are forcing me to get insurance that I can’t afford. It’s not worth it for me because I don’t go to the doctor very often.”