Mandated health insurance in the works for Fall 2012

Starting Fall 2012, all undergraduate students at UAlbany will be mandated to have health insurance.

The university will be adopting a health insurance program that students may buy into if they dont already have insurance. Students who do not have insurance and cannot afford it may be able to opt out but only if they absolutely cannot pay.

We wont deny students an education, said Vice President of Student Success Christine Bouchard at the Student Association Senate meeting tonight.

If you have your own health plan, it will need to meet the universitys standards to exempt you from buying into the program.

This is part of a SUNY-wide plan to mandate health insurance at all 64 SUNY campuses.

While the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) mandates that all U.S. citizens are insured by 2014, Bouchard said getting a head start will help put this program in place for when insurance is mandated.

Bouchard told the Senate this program will prevent uninsured students from having to deal with high health care costs if they are injured, possibly forcing them to drop out of college.

University at Buffalo already has a similar policy.

This plan will be voted on by the faculty senate, but not by the Student Association or the student body.

Follow our live tweets from #SASenate meetings on Wednesday nights at 8:30 p.m. @albstudentpress.

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