Florida Catholic Univ considers dropping student health plan, on heels of Ohio decision

Fox News ^ | May 17, 2012 | Judson Berger

[NYer]

On the heels of an Ohio school's decision to abandon its student health insurance plan, another Catholic university in Florida is considering whether to follow suit over concerns about premium costs associated with the federal health care overhaul, FoxNews.com has learned. 

The school, the private Ave Maria University, is voicing both moral and economic concerns.

Like Franciscan University -- the Steubenville, Ohio, school that just announced it is dropping student coverage -- Ave Maria officials are opposed to the so-called contraceptive coverage mandate. But for both schools, premium costs associated with new coverage requirements appear to be fueling their anxiety. 

"We're studying it right now," Ave Maria University President James Towey told FoxNews.com. "My own sense is, I don't see ... how it makes sense for us to stay in this." 

University officials plan to meet Monday to discuss their insurance options and potentially make a decision. 

Towey said the school's insurance provider told them that students would be looking at a premium increase ranging from 65 to 82 percent in the coming year if no changes are made. 

"At a minimum, we've got to communicate to students on why they're going to see a huge spike in insurance," Towey said. He added, though, "we just might get out of this business."

The expected premium increases apparently stem from a requirement in the health care law to restrict annual limits on insurance policies. The change for student plans is expected to be phased in, but the first stage will still require coverage limits to be at least $100,000 - a number that would rise sharply from there in the coming years.

[NYer]

Catholic Ping
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[AnAmericanMother]

Problem is, this is what Obama had in mind all along -- force everybody onto the government plan.

Stealth Single Payer -- "everybody gets to keep their own insurance -- so long as it's Obama's"

[AlmaKing]

I’m just questioning why universities are in the insurance business in the first place, but it must be making them money. I guess it depends on how it’s offered (i.e., as part of tuition). If so, maybe tuition will go down (I know, what a laugh).

When I went to school at a Catholic University, I had no insurance. Both my parents had their own businesses. I don’t believe they had health insurance for me through childhood up to college. I think I got health insurance for the first time when I got my first long term job.

[NYer]

I think I got health insurance for the first time when I got my first long term job.

Ditto! My take on the emergence of health insurance for everyone stems from society's new focus on "wellness". When I was growing up, one went to the doctor when they were ill. In contemporary society, the focus is on preventing illness; hence, the need to see one's doctor on a regular basis. With the plethora of pharmaceuticals intended to counteract so many potential illnesses, the wellness approach mandates that physicians send their healthy patients for a plethora of tests to ensure they are ... well!! All of those tests test the cost of medical treatment and jack up the cost of insurance coverage.

Essentially, in contemporary society, the cost of ensuring "wellness" is high and insurance carriers need to recuperate those costs through their plans. Frankly, I wish physicians would recognize that we are all going to die. The cost of "wellness" sometimes entails extending life to the point where physically healthy individuals are committed to assisted living facilities because their well bodies are now attacked by dementia and alzheimer's disease.