Health care bill may benefit college students, recent grads

The controversial health care reform bill aims to bring relief to the nearly 50 million Americans without insurance, many of which are under the age of 25.

The questions many skeptics pose include not only whether such a bill would work for young people, but also if it would be cost-effective.

U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and assistant to the speaker of the House of Representatives, supports the bill and said it will help college students and recent graduates.

“The current health care system is a status quo, it is not working for many Americans,” Van Hollen said in a conference call Aug. 26 with reporters. “It is very broken for young people, because they have huge problems getting access to quality, affordable health care.”

The congressman was joined by Thomas Bates, vice president of civic engagement for Rock the Vote, and Abby Berendt, a multimedia producer from San Francisco who described her struggles of getting by without health insurance after recently graduating from college.

Van Hollen said issues many people experience when transitioning from job to job, such as losing insurance from a previous employer, can limit people in switching jobs.

“We want young people to be entrepreneurs. We don’t want them to be stuck in one job,” he said.

He also gave his opinion on the bill’s large spending, heavily criticized by many Republicans.

“The costs of doing nothing and protecting the status quo is much greater,” he said. “It’s clear that a majority of Americans support some kind of reform.”

Camp: With bill comes taxes

Opponents of the bill include U.S. Rep. Dave Camp, R-Midland, who said spending and tax increases will likely happen if reform is approved.

Unlike Van Hollen, Camp does not believe the bill is worth the increased costs, said Camp spokeswoman Lauren Phillips.

“It’s expensive and it will also force people into a government plan,” she said.

With the bill, many people will lose the health insurance they already receive from their employer, she said, which could limit their choice of doctors.

Mark Cwiek, a Central Michigan University health sciences professor, suggested the possibility of colleges and universities requiring all students to carry health care coverage as a condition of enrollment.

“Universities like CMU do the right thing by providing a good level of primary care through the health clinic found on campus,” he said.

In the end, some sort of bipartisan compromise will likely be reached in Congress, Cwiek said.

“Behind the scenes, the Democrats and the Republicans actually have many areas where there is a level of agreement,” he said. “I believe eventually we will see a new law that will impact the majority of Americans in a positive way.”