Spring Break
Vinehout plans health insurance reform
Five bills in state Legislature aim to ease transition to life after college
McLean Bennett
Issue date: 2/9/09 Section: Campus News
Another of Vinehout's proposals, according to the same document, would keep companies from looking back more than one year into a policyholder's medical history for pre-existing conditions.
Pamela Gray, a physician at Student Health Services, said she realizes it can be tough for college graduates to find health insurance, but added she disagrees with allowing graduates to remain under family insurance plans.
"I think once you get to be age 22 or 23 you ought to be a little more independent and not being dependent on your parents for your housing or your food or your healthcare," Gray said.
Gray said she wasn't familiar with Vinehout's reform package, but said she thinks limiting insurance companies' ability to look back into policyholders' records for pre-existing conditions is a good idea.
Senior Jay Nielsen said the health insurance industry can be difficult to navigate for recent college graduates, though he said he had some questions about Vinehout's proposal to expand coverage to 26 year olds.
"I think something has to be done because if I were to graduate and stop being covered by my parents' insurance and I'm walking across State Street and I get hit by a car, I'm out of luck," Nielsen said, before adding the proposed 26-year-old cut-off age seems arbitrary. He also said he wonders how the expanded coverage would affect insurance costs.
Vinehout said the proposed reforms don't necessarily seek to reduce insurance costs, but instead attempt to increase certainty in state health insurance.
"When you get insurance you expect it to be coving everything that's a problem," Vinehout said. "But then if the company is giving you a price but then isn't covering what you really need it for, what good is it? So, this proposal would add some certainty to getting that insurance."
Pamela Gray, a physician at Student Health Services, said she realizes it can be tough for college graduates to find health insurance, but added she disagrees with allowing graduates to remain under family insurance plans.
"I think once you get to be age 22 or 23 you ought to be a little more independent and not being dependent on your parents for your housing or your food or your healthcare," Gray said.
Gray said she wasn't familiar with Vinehout's reform package, but said she thinks limiting insurance companies' ability to look back into policyholders' records for pre-existing conditions is a good idea.
Senior Jay Nielsen said the health insurance industry can be difficult to navigate for recent college graduates, though he said he had some questions about Vinehout's proposal to expand coverage to 26 year olds.
"I think something has to be done because if I were to graduate and stop being covered by my parents' insurance and I'm walking across State Street and I get hit by a car, I'm out of luck," Nielsen said, before adding the proposed 26-year-old cut-off age seems arbitrary. He also said he wonders how the expanded coverage would affect insurance costs.
Vinehout said the proposed reforms don't necessarily seek to reduce insurance costs, but instead attempt to increase certainty in state health insurance.
"When you get insurance you expect it to be coving everything that's a problem," Vinehout said. "But then if the company is giving you a price but then isn't covering what you really need it for, what good is it? So, this proposal would add some certainty to getting that insurance."
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