Without health insurance, University of Maryland senior Susana Sagastizado gets nervous if her nose begins to run or her forehead starts to feel warm. They are all bad signs, she said, of an illness she can’t afford – literally.
Luckily, the university’s health center provides care at a reasonable price, so Sagastizado can be seen and pay for a fl u shot using income from a part-time job. But if she does get the fl u, the 21-year-old’s good fortune could end.
“I worry about it a lot, it’s always in the back of my head,” Sagastizado said about not having insurance. Her parents can’t afford to have her and her two brothers on their insurance without losing their home. “I feel anxious especially when I’m sick. You always think of the worst-case scenario, that you might have to go to an emergency room.”
College students like Sagastizado have become the invisible minority in the national health care debate, as millions – middle-income and students of color especially – go without coverage. In the midst of President Barack Obama’s campaign to generate support for health care reform, experts interviewed by Diverse say college students are being left out.
Though often considered the most vibrant and healthy class of privileged Americans, postsecondary students have serious short- and long-term health and fi nancial issues, according to a June 2009 report by a group of college health professionals called Lookout Mountain Group.
“College students have a higher propensity to be uninsured for longer than other young adults,” said Stephen Beckley, a student health insurance consultant. “They use an impressive amount of health care, not unlike other groups.”
Jim Mitchell, the director of student health services at Montana State University, said when he read Sen. Max Baucus’ (D-Mont.) Health care bill from the Senate Finance Committee, he was disappointed.
