May 20, 2004
College graduates may soon join the uninsured
Graduating from college can mark the end of going to classes and the beginning of going without health insurance. Many students become uninsured when they graduate because they lose their dependent status on their parents’ health insurance, become ineligible for student health insurance, and/or don’t have health insurance offered to them through an employer. National data show that two out of every five college graduates will be uninsured at some point in their first year after graduation.
A new online database, “Access to Health Insurance/Resources for Care,” developed with the help of the Health Policy Analysis Program at the UW School of Public Health and Community Medicine, helps people who are uninsured find health insurance and low-cost health-care providers in their area.
This national resource, available on the Internet at http://www.ahirc.org, provides Web links to public, private and non-profit organizations on a state-by-state basis, including state insurance commissioners, health insurance companies, government programs for low-income persons, and safety net or sliding-scale health-care providers. The Web site does not sell insurance, nor does it accept advertising.
A 2001 study by the Commonwealth Fund found half of uninsured young adults age 19 to 29 went without needed health care due to cost. Moreover, young adults are at risk for pregnancies, HIV and injuries. “Although young adults are generally a healthy group and tend to consider themselves invincible, going without health insurance is risky,” says Mike Kreidler, Washington state insurance commissioner. “Without adequate health coverage, it only takes one brush with disaster to leave you saddled with a substantial financial burden for years to come.”
In 1998, the Actors’ Fund of America (AFA) created the AHIRC database as a health insurance resource for performing artists in New York and California. In 2003, the AFA received a grant from the Commonwealth Fund to expand the database to include resources for all uninsured and underinsured persons nationwide. The UW Health Policy Analysis Program is one of six academic health policy centers that participated in a year-long program to research resources and add them to the AHIRC Web site. The UW health policy program researched and added resources for eight states in the Northwest.
