Students have differing opinions on whether or not they should be required to have health insurance.

The University requires all students to have a health insurance plan and has basic minimum requirements that each plan must meet. If a student has a plan that does not meet the minimum requirement, they are required to purchase the University-sponsored student insurance plan.

To avoid paying for this plan, some students lie about the coverage they have.

Student Insurance Specialist Ann Cromley said about 2,400 students have the Student Health Insurance Plan offered by Aetna through the University. The Student Insurance Office does checks to make sure students have the insurance they claim to use.

‘We do perform random audits, which consist of contacting the student’s insurance company to verify that the student is in fact on the Health Plan they claim to be on,’ Cromley said via e-mail. ‘At this point, we have not had to deal with students who mislead or lie about coverage.’

She also explained what the school would do if a student were found to be lying about their coverage.

‘If it was discovered that a student doesn’t have the coverage claimed, they would be enrolled in the school’s insurance and charged the schools premium,’ she said.

Senior Carl Breidenbach said he thinks students should be required to have insurance, although he knows people who choose to lie in order to dodge the requirement.

‘I know a couple of people who [lie about coverage] because it’s expensive,’ he said.

Graduate student Frank Sun said it’s a good thing students are required to have insurance, but also said he doesn’t see an issue with them lying if they don’t have it.

‘If that’s what they want to do, that’s fine,’ he said.

Sophomore Katie Breidenbach said students should not be required to have insurance, but they shouldn’t lie to the University about it either. She said they should talk to the University about their concerns instead.

‘I think it should be the student’s choice personally,’ she said. ‘But [concerns about insurance] should be brought to the school.”