CAMPUS CORRESPONDENCE : College Graduates Are Ideal for the New Health Plan

When I graduate from college this May, I’ll be leaving behind more than classes and cafeteria food--I’ll be losing my health insurance.

My parents’ policy covers me only while I’m an undergraduate. After that, I’m on my own--and none too happy about it, either.

That’s why President Bill Clinton’s health-care plan could mean so much to me and other young adults. Under his plan, no one would ever lose health coverage, and that’s more than just peace of mind. It would allow young people to explore careers without feeling they have to settle for a job that may not be right--but offers vital health coverage.

We may not need to see a doctor as often as our parents or grandparents do, but the health issues facing today’s youth are serious. We don’t have high blood pressure or clogged arteries--yet. We’re not having triple-bypass surgery. We are in need, however, of quality care in the areas of substance abuse, eating disorders and, most important, reproductive health.

The strength of the President and Hillary Rodham Clinton’s plan is that it can help young people deal with these issues. As the debate over health-care reform continues, though, Clinton could compromise too much. If the plan is watered down in Congress, if moral agendas override considerations of public health, America will be paying more than just “sin taxes”; it will be paying through loss of future leaders.

First, the mental-health package of 60 days inpatient care and 30 outpatient visits a year must remain as is. Indeed, it may not be enough, but it is a basic standard that will ensure that thousands of young people can receive treatment for debilitating drug and alcohol dependencies, bulimia and anorexia.

One issue not tackled specifically by the plan, however--but of great urgency to young people--is AIDS. According to the Centers for Disease Control, one in 500 undergraduates is infected with HIV, the virus that leads to AIDS. As of June, 1993, 20- to 24-year-olds make up about 10% of full-blown AIDS cases. Not long after these people enter the job market, they could need extensive health care for the most catastrophic of diseases.

So far, no one is saying much about this, but if any condition could bring the new system to a screeching halt, it is AIDS. The apparent lack of attention is not only disturbing, but naive. The new plan needs to spell out how it will deal with this crisis, how it will ensure humane treatment without bankrupting us.

Other sexually transmitted diseases are also on the rise, though less publicized today in the shadow of AIDS. From 1989 to 1991, the number of cases of genital warts jumped from around 220,000 to around 275,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Genital herpes is on the rise as well--up from 150,000 cases in 1989 to around 240,000 in 1991. Clearly, universal health coverage could slow the growth of these diseases, especially in 20- to 24-year-olds, who make up the majority of cases.

Linked with reproductive health is the idea of reproductive freedom in the form of subsidized contraception and abortion. Clinton has placed funded abortions for poor women in the plan, but surely most Republicans in Congress will filibuster until blue in the face to block its passage. Indeed, if any aspect of the plan is already doomed, it is this.

Yet, denying poor women, and especially young poor women, the option of abortion does a great disservice to them. Legislators scream about the cost of welfare and Medicaid--then prevent poor women from making a decision that could change their fate and reduce their burden on the state by many thousands of dollars.

Ultimately, young people could become the best pioneers for the new system. Most of us are more familiar with walk-in clinics and college health centers than with a family doctor, so we’re not as attached to the idea of physician choice as older people. Furthermore, we’re perfect candidates for health-maintenance organizations. We don’t get sick frequently, we don’t have dependents and we usually don’t have expensive pre-existing conditions. Perhaps most important, we have never experienced the current system on our own, so we won’t know what we’re missing--if there is anything to miss.

Like many other people my age, the first President I voted for was Clinton, and I believe in his vision. I voted for him because he promised change, and he is now trying to deliver that in his health-care plan.

Some may argue that it’s too much government interference and bureaucracy, but I feel that, in the end, a streamlined system will emerge. The very well-insured may lose some benefits, but most everyone will gain and, for the first time, 37 million Americans will finally enjoy the basic human right of health care when they need it.

Universal health care is a noble goal and if the Clintons bear in mind the issues facing America’s youngest taxpayers, they could win staunch, if not always vocal, supporters of their plan.