Student health insurance will be a requirement for students who are enrolled six credits or more when they register for autumn 2003 classes.

Students will have the option to go with the university’s plan or an insurance plan provided by their parents, guardian or spouse.

“It’s really hard to determine what percentage of students this will affect,” said Ted Grace, director of Student Health Services.

Grace said the American College of Health Association recommends all colleges and universities require that students have health insurance.

The estimated number of students who may not have insurance is about 10 percent or 5,000 students, he said.

Most insurance plans, including those not affiliated with university, will be accepted. However, there are a few plans which will be rejected.

The university will look at many qualities of other insurance plans in order to be accepted, Grace said.

Some insurance plans do not work out of certain geographic areas and will only provide insurance if the situation is life-threatening, he said.

Other insurance plans which will not be accepted are those that do not cover maladies widely seen on college campuses, such as alcohol use, eating disorders or suicide, Grace said.

The cost of the university’s plan is $287 per quarter.

However, students who receive financial aid will not have this concern.

“Students who are on financial aid have this already figured into their financial aid packages,” Grace said. “We will be very lenient this first round.”

Grace said students who are receiving financial aid will not have to worry about this requirement if they use the money that is given in their package for the purpose of health insurance.

In order to register for classes, students must fill out an online waiver form to provide information about insurance.

When a student logs in the university’s Web site to register for classes, he or she will click on the option fee page and then select “student health insurance,” said John Ford, assistant director of Student Health Services.

Then there will be an option to select “none” or “update” to determine what type of insurance each student will take, Ford said.

If the student decides to go with his or her own form of insurance, he or she must fill out the waiver form that provides information on the insurance.

“We suggest that the student has their insurance card with them to fill out the waiver form,” Ford said.

The information needed for the waiver form is on the insurance card, he said.

Students have the option to skip the waiver page. However, waivers must be filled out before the 15th day of the quarter, said Eric Busch, assistant vice president of Student Affairs and chairman of the Student Health Insurance Committee.

“We were very deliberate that we didn’t want anything to get in the way when the window was first opened (for students) registering for classes,” Busch said.

Busch said financial issues and concern about students receiving the care they need were factors in deciding on the new policy.

“Having adequate insurance for students can prevent them from having catastrophic financial loads and having to go deeply in debt,” Busch said.

A common cause for student dropouts is lack of money, and medical bills are among the leading factors in financial problems, Grace said.

Random audits throughout the year will examine students’ waiver forms to see if the information that was filled out is correct, Ford said.

Students will be informed about the new policy in a variety of ways. E-mail and other forms of communication will be sent to students with more information, Busch said.