Brian Manzullo

For college students, having no health insurance can magnify other stresses in life.

Montrose senior Alicia Clark knows that better than most.

Clark, 21, has been without health insurance for six years because her family cannot afford it. Having asthma has forced Clark to find alternative ways to pay for her medical bills.

“(I’m worried about) getting sick – getting long-term sick,” Clark said.

Clark is one of the 4.58 million college students without health insurance in the United States, according to Aetna.com, a health care benefits provider. One in three people uninsured in the United States are between the ages of 18 and 24.

More than 45.8 million Americans do not have health insurance, which is expected to increase to 56 million within the next decade, according to Aetna.

Many employer-sponsored plans have cut-offs at either age 19 or 23, leaving part-time and graduate students, many who are just scraping by financially, with fewer health coverage choices.

College students incurred an estimated $100 million to $300 million in uncompensated

inpatient medical expenses in 2004 and 18 percent of full-time students were uninsured in 2003, according to Aetna.

For the past six months, Clark has gone without her asthma medication because she cannot afford it. Without insurance, 90-days worth of medication costs $100.

Clark and her mother researched different health insurance plans to find the cheapest: Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. The problem is that not many places accept it.

Since beginning classes at Central Michigan University, Clark has caught influenza and has ended up in the hospital. Her bill was more than $3,000 and took her six months to pay off, she said.

Before she was 21 years old, she could apply for grants at the local health department to help pay for her medical expenses. Not anymore.

“When you’re under 21, you are technically a child to the government. So you can apply for grants for a certain amount of money and they will pay for hospital visits and stuff like that,” Clark said. “It’s a lot of paper work, but it’s worth it. (The grant) paid for (the) three times I went to the hospital for my asthma since I’ve been in college.”

Now Clark has to pay her bills in increments. She had Medicaid for a short time, but once she turned 20, they cut her off, she said.

She had to fill out a lot of paperwork and report whenever she changed jobs, she said, which happens a lot for a college student. It was not worth it.

Clark said she does not believe there will ever be anything specifically affordable for college students without health insurance in Michigan.

CMU does offer one plan exclusively for students.

Students can get insurance for $700 for the spring and summer semesters or $1,156 for the full year, said Angela Smith, manager of medical records and billing.

The health plan covers services at University Health Services for a $10 co-pay.

Students can pay for it annually, or pay for the fall semester separate from the spring and summer semesters, she said.

“(The student insurance) is so expensive,” Clark said. “It’s like three or four months rent.”

Carey Fitzgerald, a Flint graduate student, does not have health insurance and, like Clark, thinks the CMU health plan for student insurance is still too expensive.

“There’s virtually no way to pay for it, at least not for me,” Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald has been without health insurance for two years because of family issues, he said.

At Urgent Care, 1750 E. Bellows St., a visit can cost any where from $48 to $125 for a new patient without insurance, said Brooklynn Seeley, office manager.

They try and work with those who do not have insurance, Seeley said. Individuals are asked as soon as they come in if they are covered.

If not, they have the option to pay only half right away.

“If we can’t do anything (medically), we aren’t going to charge them,” Seeley said. “We are fair to all our patients.”

X-rays cost anywhere from $40 to $80, she said, but they will make the office visit the cheapest they can.

Fitzgerald said he has not been to a doctor for sickness in years. He just uses a lot of over-the-counter medications.

“I live on ibuprofen,” Fitzgerald said.

On average, a new patient without insurance at University Health Services, Foust Hall Room 200, will pay $75 for a general visit.

Fitzgerald said he is more cautious now that he has no insurance and he keeps a lot more disinfectant around the house.

He is counting on getting a career with benefits, but does not want to think about what would happen if he has to go the doctor, he said.

“It’s almost like a feeling of punishment for doing something good,” Fitzgerald said. “We are taking time out of our lives to better our future and getting an education, and we end up with no health insurance and no one to protect us if something happens.”

university@cm-life.com

E-mail the author: Sarah Schuch