About one in every four Syracuse University students is underinsured.

The results of a March 2013 survey of domestic undergraduate students that had a 35 percent response rate showed that about 5 percent of SU students were uninsured. But Ben Domingo, director of Health Services, said it’s fair to say that about 25 percent of students are underinsured, meaning they have some sort of health care coverage, but it may not be adequate.

In an effort to improve health care coverage across the university, SU is implementing a student health insurance plan that requires all full-time students to carry some form of coverage compatible with President Barack Obama’s health care law. The plan will cost $1,890 and is in line with other universities across the U.S.

“We’re not forcing you to buy our plan. We’re instilling an insurance requirement and an investment in your education,” Domingo said. “We want to make sure that you’re insured the same way that you can’t have a car without car insurance.”

Beginning Aug. 1, all incoming, newly matriculated, matriculated international full-time students and graduate student fellows will be required to have health insurance. The following year, all full-time matriculated students will be required to have health insurance.

The process to assess a university-wide plan began in 2012 when a Student Health Insurance Advisory Committee was convened. The committee analyzed the Affordable Care Act and looked at the risk of SU students who are uninsured or underinsured, among other duties.

The committee, which was chaired by Domingo and Executive Director of Human Resources Operation Karen Morrissey, found that students who are uninsured or underinsured face many challenges, including receiving proper care, and some are forced to withdraw from the university due to significant medical expenses that are not covered by insurance.

While SU offered its own plan, the coverage was found to be unsustainable and nearly every peer institution looked at by the committee required all students to have health insurance, with the one exception being Baylor University, according to SU’s consultants.

“The plan was spiraling out of control,” Domingo said of SU’s offering.

Many of the students who had purchased the plan were high-end users, meaning those who had the insurance used it a lot. This led to carriers not showing interest in offering plans at SU, Domingo added. Last year there were about 245 students on the voluntary plan.

Domingo said that at other peer institutions, some students get off their parents’ health insurance because policies such as the one SU is implementing are cheaper.

“Syracuse University right now is currently an outlier,” he said.

The new health insurance plan is not a substitute for the health and wellness fee.

Morrissey, one of the co-chairs of the advisory committee, said the health and wellness fee is independent of the health insurance policy. She added that right now, anybody can go to Health Services to receive primary care, but what the insurance policy does is provide care for more serious medical treatment that has to be done off-campus.

Four health care providers put in bids for the right to cover SU students. Aetna Student Health, a Massachusetts-based insurance company, will offer the $1,890-a-year plan to SU students. The company currently serves about 200 other schools, according to its website.

Aetna has filed its plans with New York state to make its plans compliant with the Affordable Care Act, Morrissey said.

Those who are subject to the insurance requirement are defaulted into the plan, but may be waived by showing proof of other coverage that is Obamacare-compliant and that provides in- or out-of-network coverage in the Syracuse area for more than just emergency care.

All “tentacles” of the university are involved, such as the Division of Student Affairs, the Health Center, graduate officials, the Slutzker Center for International Services and enrollment management, among others, Morrissey said.

Morrissey said SU is still figuring out the financial aid side of it, but peer institutions have some variance in their financial aid for required health insurance.

Michelle McCormick, a special benefits specialist at SU, said SU’s goal is to ensure that all students have access to an affordable insurance option and the $1,890 is much lower than other gold-level plans sold on the New York State of Health Marketplace.

“If you were to get this on the exchanges, you’re looking at $3,500 to $6,000 roughly for what students are able to get for $1,890,” said Domingo, the director of health services.

Student Association President Boris Gresely said that as someone who doesn’t have health insurance, he finds the cost and the ability to have the care outside of the Syracuse network to be beneficial.

“As young adults we don’t fall victim as quickly to illness and that may be a reason why we don’t get health insurance, but it’s very important because the university is increasing a lot of its health services… and all of that should be utilized by the students,” he said.

Gresely said that while he supports it, SA has not taken a definitive stance.

“Sometimes in your life you don’t know whether you’re going to have an accident or not and if you do have one, especially considering the high levels of alcohol consumption, having health insurance is very important,” he said. “Although we go to school to get an education and succeed in life and all that, you can’t do that without health. Health comes first.”

Published on March 23, 2015 at 11:00 pm

Contact Justin: jmatting@syr.edu | @jmattingly306