House of Representatives votes to approve health care bill

Last Saturday, Nov. 7, the United States House of Representatives passed the Affordable Healthcare for America Act, a House Bill aiming to provide comprehensive health care for all Americans.† To become law, the bill must also be passed by the Senate.

The House bill, which passed 220 ó 215 along strict party lines, would provide an estimated 36 million currently uninsured people with insurance by creating a government-run, affordable public option in addition to the already-existing private insurance companies.† Health insurance coverage would become mandatory for all Americans.† The bill is based on President Barack Obamaís proposed health care plan.

Republicans objected primarily to the billís $105 trillion dollar price tag, deemed wasteful in a recession economy.† Despite the apparent cost of the bill, as an overhaul of the health care system it is designed to pay for itself in the next 10 years, ultimately reducing the national debt by $129 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The Senate is developing their own version of the bill, which could mean significant changes in the final version, particularly with regard to the controversial public option.

As is often the case, one question that is hardly being asked in the health care debate is where the potential new law will leave young adults ó those between the ages of 19 and 28.† This age group, referred to lately as ìYoung Invincibles,” are a puzzle in the health care market.

Young people are an incredibly desirable addition to any healthcare pool because they tend not to require a lot of healthcare.† However, since young people in and just out of college tend not to make very much money, many choose to go uninsured, trusting that they wonít require health care.† Like all uninsured people, the national concern is that the government ends up paying for emergency room coverage for these individuals.

Opponents of Obamaís health care plan believe that the bill hurts these young healthy citizens by forcing them to ìpurchase health insurance they donít want to buy, at prices higher than they have already rejected,” in the words of Aaron Yelowitz of the New York Daily News.

Wooster students are required to have health insurance, and are all given the option of purchasing a policy through the school ó a $150 deductible with an 80-20 co-pay.† About 500 students use this insurance, which would likely be cheaper than the public option.† However, even though no Wooster students are uninsured, graduating seniors stand to lose that coverage, and likely their parentsí coverage as well.

Currently, the age until which someone can be covered by their parentsí health care policy varies by state, from 18 to 30, and many of these are contingent on students being enrolled in college or graduate school. Hence, students who take a gap year or students from a state that does not allow them to stay on their parentsí plan are very much a concern for lawmakers.

Perhaps in order to keep this segment of the population from choosing the public option, thus driving up the cost, both the final House bill and the current version of the Senate bill make it a matter of federal law how long young adults can remain on their parentsí plans ó up to age 26 in the House, 27 in the Senate, regardless of enrollment status.† This seems like good news to many college students, though Republican critics see it as a way of either hiding the cost of covering young adults or forcing that cost on the private sector.

As the debate continues in the Senate, the American College Health Association, of which Longbrake Student Wellness Center Nancy Anderson is a board member, has hired consultants and lobbyists to fight for the rights of college students.

ìThe goal is to make sure that college students and college health care centers are not neglected in the overall health care plan,” said Anderson.