The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #42006

Ed Ehlinger, MD, MSPH, Boynton Health Service, University of Minnesota, 410 Church St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, 612-625-1612, eehlinger@bhs.umn.edu

Education and income are directly linked and both are linked with health status. Lack of health insurance is also associated with poor health status. Initiatives that increase the college enrollment of low income individuals and programs that increase insurance coverage can have a direct and positive impact on health status and health disparities. Colleges/universities that have a policy requiring health insurance for enrollment can positively influence all of these factors – educational levels, income, and insurance coverage – and thus directly and significantly impact health status and health disparities. This presentation will outline the status of college and university policies that mandate that students have health insurance and provide information on how these “mandatory insurance” policies can help reduce disparities in health status. How colleges/universities can implement these policies will also be discussed. Given the high uninsured rate among 18-24 year olds, efforts to increase the rate of insurance coverage among this age group is particularly important. Since 30% to 40% of 18-24 year olds attend college, efforts to insure all college students would be a great step toward the Healthy People 2010 objective to “Increase the proportion of persons with health insurance.“ Since colleges and universities can independently implement these policies, this is one major policy change that can be made without broader health care reform legislation.

Learning Objectives:

• At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to
• * Recognize the importance of including college students in efforts to reduce health disparties
• * Identify the current status of mandatory insurance policies on college campuses
• * List the reasons why mandating insurance coverage on a college campus will help reduce disparities among low income populations
• * Articulate how a mandatory insurance policy will help decrese the 18 - 24 year old uninsured rate

Keywords: Access to Health Care, Underserved Populations

Related Web page: www.bhs.umn.edu

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.