Cornell students erupt over health care fee

foxnews.com ^ | February 13, 2015

[ilovesarah2012]

Students at vaunted Cornell University are plenty smart enough to know they should not have to pay a penalty for not buying the school's health insurance if they already have coverage, but that's exactly what a new policy at the Ivy League school requires.

[beekay]

Appears that they must charge the $350 fee to make the premiums affordable for those who purchase the school health insurance.
It is just an extension of the Obamacare wealth transfer.
Welcome to the socialist mentality.
Me thinketh the millennials are starting to see the light.

[NonValueAdded]

It is blindingly simple, it is Øbamacare writ small. In order to provide "affordable" insurance to the less fortunate Cornellians, those who's parents cannot cover them with their gilt-edged plans like you, dear student, well ... everyone must participate to keep the risk pool large and the rates low. It is your shared responsibility payment.

"Why mess with my health plan, it is perfectly good," you might ask?

Yeah, exactly.

[tumblindice]

Nebraska Cornhuskers
Cornell Cornholers
School motto: ‘Watch your corn hole, bud.’

[pepsionice]

Two observations. First, it’s a private college....what they desire to do...is their own business. If it were a state college....I’d say otherwise, and the state legislature would be deeply involved.

Second, and more importantly...take a look at the yearly tuition. 2014: $38,475. That doesn’t include housing/food/beer. So a kid would require a minimum of $50,000 to survive each year there. A fee of $300 to $400 is mostly nothing. Ninety-nine percent of the kids can absorb that easily, and Dad will have to cough up the money.

There might be some unfairness about this unnecessary fee, but the thing is...they’ve been forced to create a healthcare program for the university. If you went back seventy years ago...no university had any medical plan because it wasn’t their core business. They’ve all adapted to this and gotten into individual programs. It’s like NCAA football....it’s not a core program either. Folks got used to it and now expect it.

[HANG THE EXPENSE]

They voted for it.HAHAHAHAHA

[1rudeboy]

It’ not a tax, and no one voted for it.

[MaxMax]

Have you been in a coma? Welcome to 2015, how are you.

[Organic Panic]

Too young to vote for Obama. But still stupid enough to blindly support everything from Obama.

[Gene Eric]

>> It’s not about Obamacare.

How can it not be? Every health related was affected by that hideous disaster.

[Gene Eric]

Everything health related ...

[tanknetter]

Actually it is about obamacare because the new fee was imposed by the school in order to remain in compliance with the Affordable Care Act.

That. But there's also certainly another element as well.

With students now able to stay on their parent's insurance plans much longer, Cornell's on-campus medical services probably saw a drop in the number of kids availing themselves of the Cornell-offered insurance.

That would really mess up their revenue streams, since the vast majority of college kids don't need the kind of advanced medical services Cornell stated it was proud to provide. IOW, one big revenue stream (fees from providing services) couldn't pay to maintain the services being offered all on its own while the other one (the sale of health insurance) dried up.

Forced with a revenue gap and no longer being able to provide the services it wanted to (indeed, probably had massive sunk costs into), Cornell did the only thing it really could do: take advantage of having a captive audience (kids who want to go to Cornell) and force them to kick in $$$ to make up the shortfall.

[CdMGuy]

Now that Obama requires that “children” can remain on their parent’s medical insurance until 26, a funny think is happening at Cornell and probably elsewhere. A very significant number of their students no longer need to use Cornell’s health plan as old Mom and Dad are having to pick up their insurance for them. As a result, Cornell’s medical plan is short of customers. So, how does Cornell decide to keep their plan solvent? Why, of course, they will be shaking down those students who already have medical insurance through their parents. Just one more unintended consequence of socialism. Then again, we should not forget that Ithaca is the City of Evil.

[wiggen]

I see your point but this is Obamacare on a more local level. Everyone forced to play in the game.

[Jimmy Valentine]

Cornell went to the Devil when they started taking money from the State of New York A on e very good university was ruined by liberal meddlers. Even the campus architecture has been spoiled

[Jimmy Valentine's brother]

Sandy Weil and the repeal of Glass Steagal reulting in the financial meltdown of 2008 and Dodd Frank.

[Amagi]

In the utopian world of their dreams healthcare is free ...
... but college and government can cost through the roof.

[randita]

This reaction harkens back to:

“Of course, I want people to have health care,” Vinson said. “I just didn’t realize I would be the one who was going to pay for it personally.”

[Toddsterpatriot]

Right, because Glass Steagall prevented bad mortgages. Wait, what?

[Marcella]

“So a kid would require a minimum of $50,000 to survive each year there. A fee of $300 to $400 is mostly nothing.”

The article also said the fee of $350 is likely not covered by a student college loan. I would bet many of those kids have a student loan to go there so it’s not “mostly nothing” to them. That is likely why 100+ of them protested in the admin. bldg. and the president’s office.

[1rudeboy]

Your comment #6:

The students before you voted that tax, for you to pay,

was a head-shaking non sequitur, and it indicated to me that you posted when your knee jerked.