When Ohio State students return to school this fall they will face some changes in the student insurance plan. Among them will be rate hikes, increased coverage, and a service that was formerly for student insurance holders only will be available to all students free of charge.On May 7 the OSU Board of Trustees approved the recommendations of the Student Health Insurance Committee for the 1999-2000 school year. The board renewed OSU’s student health insurance contract with Central Benefits Mutual Insurance Co., of Columbus. Central Benefits’ new contract includes a 5.88 percent premium hike for single students, from $187 to $198 a quarter. Adding a spouse, children, or family members will also be more expensive than last year. Premiums for a policy that includes a spouse will rise 5.01 percent; for children, 4.75 percent; for family members, 4.77 percent.In a statement released Wednesday, Central Benefits attributed the rate hikes to outside factors: “Industry experts, such as Towers Perrin and The Washington Business Group on Health, estimate health care inflation this year will average between 7 percent to 10 percent. The reasons for this are extremely complex, and a number of factors are involved, most notably the high cost of prescription drugs.”Zach Waymer, OSU’s Student Benefits coordinator, agreed on principle with Central Benefits’ reasoning.”Generally speaking in the country right now, health care inflation is about 10-16 percent,” Waymer said. “It’s very high. Drugs are very expensive. A lot of them are branded, meaning there is no generic substitute. That drives up the cost.”Higher premiums are not the only changes to their insurance plan that students will see. The preexisting condition period has been reduced from 12 months to six. This means that students must wait six months after buying the insurance instead of a whole year to get insurance benefits for a preexisting condition (such as diabetes or heart disease) that they had within six months prior to buying the insurance. This applies only to preexisting conditions.Another change to the student plan is that Health Risk Appraisals, which were formerly available only to student health insurance customers, will now be available free to any OSU student, whether they have insurance or not. A Health Risk Appraisal is done at the Student Wellness Center, and involves a simple series of health questions and a physical examination. Students may then receive advice on how they can change their lifestyle to live healthier.