Fear of absorbing health insurance costs hit San Diego’s youth

Health care reform remains a hotly debated issue. It makes sense. The U.S. Census Bureau reported 46.3 million people had no health insurance in 2008.

Still, the debate has failed to highlight a key group: young people even though the health care package will affect them just as much. The issue is more so prominent in college town, San Diego.

In 2008, people age 18 to 24 had the highest rate of no health coverage at 28.6 percent, according to data compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau. The second highest uninsured group included people 25 to 34 years old at 26.5 percent. Thus, young people constitute more than half of all uninsured people in the U.S., according to the report.

If the proposed health care reform is passed, college students would be greatly impacted and in multiple ways.

First off, the millions of people who are uninsured, which includes college students, would have to obtain insurance, said San Diego State University political science professor Brian Adams.

In fact, he said this is one of the positive aspects of the legislation.

“Young people should probably get insurance anyway, because even if you’re healthy you can get into a car accident or you can have some catastrophic illness,” he said. “If you get into a car accident and you have $200,000 of health care debt, it can bury you for decades.”

SDSU journalism and media studies senior Natalie Scott is thankful to have health insurance through her parents’ plan while she is in school. She is concerned, however, about being covered once she graduates.

“I want to be covered even when I’m done with college and have my first real life job,” she said. “I won’t be getting paid too much so it is important to me that I get coverage and can afford it while I am working on my career.”

Other students, like Mary Zhong, have no health insurance. Her health care was terminated under her parents’ health plan when she recently turned 20. Zhong, who is a political science major, said she is “immensely” concerned about health care and hopes to purchase coverage through her part-time job.

“I recently studied abroad in Oxford University in England and was in awe of their universal health care system,” she said. “The U.S. is a highly industrialized nation, and yet I find it baffling that we are without some form of universal medical access. Everyone needs health care, and it should be easy to access.”