State health plan a risky venture

Student Health Center to eliminate indigent card as alternative insurance

By Bill Keran
The Metropolitan

Metro students who opt to use a state-supported health care program instead of buying health insurance through the college might not get the medical coverage they need.

John Gaskell, vice president of Student Services for Metroâs student government, said many students are substituting the stateâs indigent care program for the schoolâs health insurance.

ãThe concern of mine is that these students think they have health insurance, but they really donât because itâs not a guarantee for any kind of care.ä Gaskell said. ãYou can be turned down by a private hospital in a case of emergency, whereas with the health insurance of the school you are guaranteed health care.ä

Steve Monaco, director of the Student Health Center, estimated that 180 students use the indigent program over the collegeâs insurance program. Metroâs student health insurance costs $298.30 per semester and guarantees medical coverage.

Monaco said Metro students are better off under the schoolâs plan. The indigent health program is in financial trouble because expenses incurred by the programâs medical providers have been higher than state contributions.

Those financial woes mean many people in the program have been turned down for care because there arenât enough funds supplied by the state. The Denver Post reported in an April 27 story that Colorado health care providers lost $43.3 million in 1996 on the indigent program.

ãThis (indigent program) is in significant trouble,ä Monaco said. ãIt was never meant to be an insurance program. And it is in no way, shape or form, insurance, by any means.

ãNumerous facilities in the state, have closed their doors to this program, and are not permitting access because they canât afford the loss. There is no guarantee that a student with a Colorado discount program card has access to health care.ä

Metroâs health insurance program is  mandatory for students taking 10 or more credits unless a student can prove that they are covered under a comparable, valid health insurance policy. Students who qualify for the indigent health care program get an enrollment card that they can use to wave the schoolâs insurance policy.

State legislators developed the indigent care program to help pay the medical bills of people who are not covered by private insurance, Medicaid or Medicare.

Enrollment in the indigent program is free. But the program does not guarantee coverage for medical services although the state pays a percentage of an enrolleeâs medical bills.

The college will stop accepting the indigent card in fall 1998 as proof of health insurance. Until then, many students who waive the collegeâs insurance and choose the indigent care program might wrongly assume they are covered.

ãWe really shouldnât have been accepting it all along, because it isnât insurance, and it never was,ä Monaco said. ãWe didnât know a lot about the program.ä

The collegeâs health center office sent out notices of this policy change this spring to students who waived the schoolâs insurance program.

Monaco said the state program wasnât meant for students since they have access to health insurance through the school.
University Hospital has changed its policy on issuing cards indiscriminately and now ensures recipients meet criteria for the indigent program.

ãIf someoneâs got access to a low cost, great benefit plan thatâs covered by financial aid, there is no way the state of Colorado would want someone on this (indigent care) plan,ä Monaco said. ãIf you bought (Metroâs) coverage elsewhere, it would cost about $1,200.ä