Ada M. Álvarez
In times of elections, many topics are discussed in order to see what platforms each candidate has for the country. One major issue in this campaign is healthcare. How many people have healthcare? How bad health issues are in the country? How the students at Florida International University are reflecting these general problems? How are they handling their health issues?
“I can’t afford it”, says Idalis Camacho, first year Graduate Student, Majoring in Mass Communications. “I don’t have information regarding the free services on the University, I heard about the cost by other people. “The information of health services (free or not) is poor. They emphasize that you have your shots up to date, because is a requirement of the admission process, but they don’t promote the services they offer”.
For some the fees are very expensive. A domestic student has to pay $1,796 for a year of health coverage. For a Fall semester it costs $649; and Spring and Summer together are $1,147. This insurance is promoted by FIU, processed by College Risk Management and offered by Blue Cross. By Board of Trustees and university rule, all international students at FIU in F-1 and J-1 status are required to have medical insurance prior to registration, of which proof must be submitted to University Health Services. They have a similar rate, in which they actually save $2, they pay annually $1,794.
“The problem is that my money is from loans. I request financial aid and they don’t calculate how much a healthcare plan is, they don’t see it as an expense as they see housing for example. I paid the annual fee, almost $2,000; I sure had to cut my expense budget a lot for that. In the end I guess its worst it”, said Jorge Pérez, a sophomore in Marine Biology.
The problems that students have are every day issues for people that live in Unites States in general. Healthcare is a mayor issue. Based on a publication made by the US Census Bureau in 2006, nearly 47 million Americans, or 16% of the population, were without health insurance in 2005. The number of uninsured rose 2.2 million between 2005 and 2006 and has increased by almost 9 million people since 2000. This is affecting directly students. A study made by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation reflects that the percentage of working adults (18 to 64) who had no health coverage climbed from 19.7 percent in 2005 to 20.2 percent in 2006. Young adults (18-to-24 years old) remained the least likely of any age group to have health insurance in 2005 - 29.3 percent of this group did not have health insurance.
The latest publication published at the FIU Health Service website has an Executive Summary of Fall 2004 made by the American College Health Association and National College Health Assessment. This study was made to FIU students, 64.9% of students surveyed described their health as “very good”. This study reflects also the top four major problems students of FIU have, which are: Back pain with 42.8%; Allergy problems, 32.2%; Sinus infections, 14.0% and Depression with 12.3%.
“One of the mayor issues in America in general is back problems and some people don’t see that the spinal chord is important because it connects the brain through out the whole body”, said Dr. Daniel Abeckjerr, the head leader of Cloverleaf Chiropractic Clinic and provider of back screenings at the University Health Services. “I believe the major problem people have is that they go to the Doctor when they already have symptoms, instead of attacking the reasons for which that condition appeared in the first place”.
The university offer services covered by the Student Health Fee, which is $67.20. These services include: routine medical exams for illness and injuries, physical examinations for preventive health, family planning consultation, screening for high blood pressure and other conditions and access to the resource library. You can get other things for a small cost, like the flu shots their giving with appointments for $16.
“Open houses are good; a simple brochure at orientation day didn’t do it for me. Also the website and the healthcare information are complicated. I went to the open house the health services had that I saw announced on several flyers, I went and had a free screening with a chiropractor and a vision exam for free. I discovered I had conditions that I didn’t knew I needed to take care.” said Min Li, a junior majoring in Tourism and Management. For more information please visit http://studenthealth.fiu.edu/
In times of elections, many topics are discussed in order to see what platforms each candidate has for the country. One major issue in this campaign is healthcare. How many people have healthcare? How bad health issues are in the country? How the students at Florida International University are reflecting these general problems? How are they handling their health issues?
“I can’t afford it”, says Idalis Camacho, first year Graduate Student, Majoring in Mass Communications. “I don’t have information regarding the free services on the University, I heard about the cost by other people. “The information of health services (free or not) is poor. They emphasize that you have your shots up to date, because is a requirement of the admission process, but they don’t promote the services they offer”.
For some the fees are very expensive. A domestic student has to pay $1,796 for a year of health coverage. For a Fall semester it costs $649; and Spring and Summer together are $1,147. This insurance is promoted by FIU, processed by College Risk Management and offered by Blue Cross. By Board of Trustees and university rule, all international students at FIU in F-1 and J-1 status are required to have medical insurance prior to registration, of which proof must be submitted to University Health Services. They have a similar rate, in which they actually save $2, they pay annually $1,794.
“The problem is that my money is from loans. I request financial aid and they don’t calculate how much a healthcare plan is, they don’t see it as an expense as they see housing for example. I paid the annual fee, almost $2,000; I sure had to cut my expense budget a lot for that. In the end I guess its worst it”, said Jorge Pérez, a sophomore in Marine Biology.
The problems that students have are every day issues for people that live in Unites States in general. Healthcare is a mayor issue. Based on a publication made by the US Census Bureau in 2006, nearly 47 million Americans, or 16% of the population, were without health insurance in 2005. The number of uninsured rose 2.2 million between 2005 and 2006 and has increased by almost 9 million people since 2000. This is affecting directly students. A study made by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation reflects that the percentage of working adults (18 to 64) who had no health coverage climbed from 19.7 percent in 2005 to 20.2 percent in 2006. Young adults (18-to-24 years old) remained the least likely of any age group to have health insurance in 2005 - 29.3 percent of this group did not have health insurance.
The latest publication published at the FIU Health Service website has an Executive Summary of Fall 2004 made by the American College Health Association and National College Health Assessment. This study was made to FIU students, 64.9% of students surveyed described their health as “very good”. This study reflects also the top four major problems students of FIU have, which are: Back pain with 42.8%; Allergy problems, 32.2%; Sinus infections, 14.0% and Depression with 12.3%.
“One of the mayor issues in America in general is back problems and some people don’t see that the spinal chord is important because it connects the brain through out the whole body”, said Dr. Daniel Abeckjerr, the head leader of Cloverleaf Chiropractic Clinic and provider of back screenings at the University Health Services. “I believe the major problem people have is that they go to the Doctor when they already have symptoms, instead of attacking the reasons for which that condition appeared in the first place”.
The university offer services covered by the Student Health Fee, which is $67.20. These services include: routine medical exams for illness and injuries, physical examinations for preventive health, family planning consultation, screening for high blood pressure and other conditions and access to the resource library. You can get other things for a small cost, like the flu shots their giving with appointments for $16.
“Open houses are good; a simple brochure at orientation day didn’t do it for me. Also the website and the healthcare information are complicated. I went to the open house the health services had that I saw announced on several flyers, I went and had a free screening with a chiropractor and a vision exam for free. I discovered I had conditions that I didn’t knew I needed to take care.” said Min Li, a junior majoring in Tourism and Management. For more information please visit http://studenthealth.fiu.edu/
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