Massachusetts Regulators Propose Tracking Student Medical Billing Issues

Massachusetts state regulators on Thursday proposed requiring colleges to track information on students' health insurance plans, including the number of students whose annual medical bills exceed their policy limits, the Boston Globe reports. The proposal also would require colleges to track and report to state regulators information such as how many complaints students file against health insurers; how many times insurers refuse to pay for student injuries or ailments; and the percentage of profit the insurers apply toward student medical services.

The proposal comes amid reports that student medical coverage in Massachusetts is substantially limited compared to standard insurance coverage and does not cover accidents or serious injuries. Current state regulations require college students to obtain health insurance but allow insurers to offer coverage that does not meet the minimum standards for other plans established by the state's health insurance law. The Globe reports, "Although students are free to buy more expensive policies, roughly 77,800 students are covered by plans that cap payments at $50,000 a year per injury or illness." State regulators said that the proposal is the first step toward requiring insurers to offer students more generous benefit plans.

Dena Greenblum, a senior at Tufts University and a member of the university's Student Health Organizing Coalition, said, "It doesn't make sense for students to be treated differently." Sarah Iselin, commissioner of Massachusetts' Division of Health Care Finance and Policy, said that student health "is a 20-year-old program that is ripe for review." The proposal is expected to be implemented following a public hearing in March (Lazar, Boston Globe, 2/13).