California State University, Los Angeles has received a $1.25 million grant from state agency, Covered California™, to educate CSU students and their families about the new health insurance system created by the federal Affordable Care Act. In collaboration with the CSU Office of the Chancellor, we have created a statewide initiative across the different CSU campuses called the CSU Health Insurance Education Project (HIEP). The goal of the project it to ensure that CSU students understand the new law and how it can improve their access to affordable health insurance. (See www.calstate.edu/CoveredCA).
While CSU students are largely young and healthy, there is still an urgent need for them to have health insurance. Healthy as one may be, things happen, and CSU students lead active lives, which include risk of injuries. Medical services can be very expensive and an unexpected injury or serious illness could leave a student of family member with medical bills they are unable to pay. Health insurance helps protect our students and their families from these high medical bills and debt.
In 2010, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which set the stage for comprehensive health reform in the United States. Some provisions of the law have already taken effect, the most relevant being the provision that allows young adults to remain covered by their parents’ health insurance plan up to the age of 26.
Other key provisions of ACA include the following:
There are multiple, specific reasons why individuals and families do not have insurance. But one reason stands out above all the others: for most uninsured individuals and families, insurance is simply unaffordable. By expanding the Medi-Cal program and by offering substantial financial support to those who cannot afford insurance, the ACA goes a long way toward addressing the affordability challenge. These two provisions should prove particularly valuable to CSU students and their families. Data on the CSU student population indicate that at least 70% of CSU students live in households with incomes in the ranges that may make them eligible for Medi-Cal or financial assistance in purchasing private insurance.
Those who will be purchasing private insurance will do so through a new state agency, Covered California™. It is a new marketplace created by the ACA and by California law
(www.coveredca.com). Covered California will operate like an Amazon online marketplace in which CSU students, their families, and many other Californians will be able to compare different insurance companies, determine how much financial assistance they may receive, and select the insurance company and plan that is right for them.
The CSU Health Insurance Education Project has hired coordinators from 15 CSU campuses. Almost all the coordinators are current CSU students or recent graduates. They will conduct outreach and education activities to inform students about the ACA, Covered California, and their new health insurance options. At each of our 15 staffed campuses, our coordinators have organized campus-based events and activities such as tabling, classroom presentations, and most recently, a series of Q&A information sessions.
Chancellor White and his office support this project and recognize the importance of connecting CSU students to the information they need to make informed health decisions. Additionally, the project is partnering with Student Health Centers, the California State Student Association, CSU Vice Presidents for Student Affairs, and other important campus-based organizations.
Until now, health insurance has been inaccessible or unaffordable for many CSU students. Today that is no longer the case. Over the next six (6) months, the CSU HIEP initiative will work hard to educate CSU students and their families about their new rights and options. Hopefully, almost all CSU students and families will be able to secure high quality, affordable health insurance and care.
For more information about the CSU Health Insurance Education Project and how the Affordable Care Act and Covered California might help you access insurance please visit our web site at
www.calstate.edu/coveredca.
