Most four year colleges offer health insurance policies for their students, and the students are often obligated to purchase the coverage if they cannot show proof of coverage under another policy. And in some cases, the rules are very strict in terms of what the universities will accept as alternate coverage. A recent article in the Colorado State University newspaper got me thinking about how the new reform law would impact health insurance policies offered by universities. One of the major drawbacks to many of the plans offered by colleges is the low annual and lifetime maximum benefits. The very first provision in the Affordable Care Act is to do away with lifetime limits on health insurance policies (section 2711, on page 16 of the Senate Bill), and prohibit “unreasonable annual limits”. The rule applies to “a group health plan and a health insurance issuer offering group or individual health insurance coverage.” Does a college fall under that definition of a health insurance issuer? I would assume so, but it’s not explicitly stated. The only place in the bill where I could find language specifically addressing student health insurance was on page 372, in section 1560 (Rules of Constuction), subsection (c), titled “student health insurance plans”. That section states that
“Nothing in this title (or an amendment made by this title) shall be construed to prohibit an institution of higher education (as such term is defined for purposes of the Higher Education Act of 1965) from offering a student health insurance plan, to the extent that such requirement is otherwise permitted under applicable Federal, State or local law.“
