The California State University Health Insurance Education Project is offering to help students with open enrollment for Covered California since the state-based insurance plan opened on Nov. 15 and will close on Feb. 15, 2015.
HIEP is a joint CSU and CSULA project to educate CSU students, their families and campus staff about the new health insurance law and the opportunity it offers many in the CSU community to get affordable health insurance.
Leslie Razo, a journalism major and Spanish minor at Cal State University Long Beach, sees that paying for insurance for some individuals may be an issue, but she also understands the benefits of being insured.
“I think it’s important because I have been uninsured, and I’ve had to go to another country to resolve my health issues,” Razo said.
After being unable to pay out of pocket for dentist procedures in the U.S., she reluctantly traveled to Mexico to get them done. There she paid $800 compared to the $3,000 that she would have had to pay if she’d done it in the U.S.
With representatives in 12 CSU campuses, HIEP, as a joint CSU/CSULA project, hopes to educate CSU students, their families and campus staff about the new health insurance law and the opportunities it offers to those who form part of the CSU community.
According to Cover California’s website, those who are exempt from penalties are those who have religious reasons for not purchasing coverage, who cannot afford coverage and are facing hardship, are not required to file taxes, members of an Indian tribe, are incarcerated or are not lawfully present in the United States.
Alejandra Gallegos, CSULB’s HIEP campus coordinator, said there are three reasons why someone should be insured. One, because things happen; second, it can keep you healthy; and finally, because it is the law.
“A serious illness or even a simple accident could leave you with devastating bills. One visit to the ER can cost $3,000 or more,” she said. “The law requires most Americans to have insurance or pay a penalty. For many CSU students, the penalty may cost more than insurance.”
Information found in an introductory participant guide on Covered California’s website, in 2014 uninsured families paid $95 per adult and $47.50 per child. In some cases, an entire family paid $285.
Kathleen Sandoval, a journalism and English rhetoric composition major at CSULB, knows that being insured is important since health issues may arise at any moment.
Sandoval will have to go under the knife in order to correct the bone alignment on her feet, a procedure called exostectomy.
“I find that it is vital to me, not only because I need some kind of healthcare. It will help me reduce the costs of a surgery that I will soon need,” Sandoval said.
In 2013, data gathered by HIEP indicated that roughly 30 percent of students at CSULB were uninsured, and about 70 percent of CSU students could have obtained coverage based on their families income.
CSULB’s HIEP office is available in the Student Health Center, according to the CSULB HIEP Facebook page.