While Syracuse University requiring students to have health insurance is commendable, the university needs to make the details and reasoning behind the decision better known to students.

At Monday’s Student Association meeting, Dean of Student Affairs Rebecca Reed Kantrowitz announced that beginning in the Fall 2016 semester all full-time Syracuse University students will be required to have health insurance.

The new student health insurance plan will cost $1,890 for students who do not have insurance and $2,742 for those that voluntarily choose the plan. The approximate cost of the current health insurance plan at SU is $2,900. In 2012, the university ordered a Student Health Insurance Committee to assess student health insurance options, the risks of uninsured students at SU and the best ways to move forward.

The university has obviously put thought and consideration into this new proposal, and giving students more than 16 months before it goes into effect allows students to determine their best individual courses of action. While there will be two question-and-answer sessions on campus for students, the details and specific coverage options should be disseminated so families can compare plans, and if necessary, find an insurance plan that better fits their needs.

In addition to explaining what the plan entails, the university should also detail how it came to the conclusion that it would require all students to have this insurance plan, and make it clear why its current health insurance offerings were unsustainable.

When circulating this information, SU should not rely on students to relay the information to the parents, guardians and financiers who fund their educations. Direct and frequent contact should be made with the party that makes tuition payments, in the form of emails and letters home.

Because this extra cost is being forced on students, there should be consideration for how this will affect students who receive financial support. The university must ensure that students who are in need of financial aid and financially unable to pay for health insurance are not burdened by the new policy, or excluded because of it.

Requiring students to have health insurance and providing an affordable option for them is a responsible move on behalf of the university. To make sure that the plan goes into effect with out a hitch, the university needs to reach out to the parties that its policy will directly affect.

Published on March 17, 2015 at 1:05 am