Just the other day I got yet another bill from the Mount Nittany Medical Center, this one for the nice little sum of $3,960.
Last fall, I had a little tango with four guys in a dark part of Calder Alley and ended up in the hospital with a bloodied, bruised and battered face.
Fortunately a CT scan found no serious damage, but it was enough to get me admitted, and now five months later I'm still paying for it because, trust me, CT scans aren't cheap. Luckily I'm covered by my parents' insurance.
But what if I had gotten jumped three months from now? What if during the late stages of some senior week bar tour I slip on a wet bathroom floor and crack my head on the paper towel dispenser, then what would I do?
Like most college students, the moment I get my diploma in May not only marks the first step of my adventure into the real world, but also the time when I'm no longer considered a dependent nor covered by my parents insurance.
So basically, when we're told to go truly test the waters for the first time in our lives, we're stripped of our main life vest.
What would happen if something happens during senior week? Well I'm pretty sure instead of taking the police officers' advice and taking the ambulance to the hospital like I did in September, I probably would just walk home, wash my face off and go to bed.
If there are any broken bones or problems with my brain, I'm pretty much screwed. And, unfortunately, so are many people our age. Currently, 13.2 million young Americans (34 percent of college graduates) live without health insurance. It's just too expensive.
Given our generation's penchant for taking risks and seeking thrills (we are after all Generation Y) it's almost impossible for a recent college graduate to find an insurance plan for less than $400 per month. Factor that in with rent, food and overall cost of living, and it's easy to see why health insurance usually misses the first cut.
Sure, most employers offer insurance to their employees, but if you've taken a look at the job market recently there aren't too many openings for recent college grads, and even worse, more and more companies aren't able to afford paying for health insurance for their employees. There is Medicaid, but that's only available to people making less than $709 per month, which is less than what a full-time, minimum wage earner makes. For college grads, there is a dangerous disconnect in the healthcare system.
Since most young Americans lie somewhere between qualifying for Medicaid and earning enough to afford health insurance, many have become their own doctors.
Instead of going to the hospital, more and more young Americans are taking care of their own health problems. Thankfully there's WebMD to help us Generation Yers diagnose ourselves with only a few clicks of mouse.
Fara D'Aguiar, a 26-year-old New York resident, told the New York Times she treated her last flu with "probably expired" amoxicillin. Her roommate, 28-year-old freelance photographer Nicole Polec, gets her Ritalin from a client who gets it from a compassionate doctor.
But what if we don't have these connections? Or what if we can get the drugs but they're not the right drugs? We're obviously not doctors and may mess up, which is OK when writing a term paper, but could prove pretty costly when dealing with our health. We're a resilient and ingenuitive generation; we find ways to fix problems, but they're not always the best remedies.
Something needs to be done. There is a federal program called COBRA, which allows college graduates to file for an up-to-39-month extension on their parents' coverage, but it's pricey.
The health care consumer advocacy group Community Catalyst released a report earlier this month urging states to ease the eligibility requirements for insurance dependents.
And New York Gov. David A. Patterson responded. Patterson proposed allowing parents to claim young adults as dependents until the age of 29. This might be a little extreme and exploit the insurance companies, but at least it's a step in the right direction. If his plan were enacted, 80,000 young adults would be covered under their parents' insurance.
But that's just one instance. What about the rest of us who don't hail from the Empire State? That's why this plan needs to be nationalized. We're not asking for free handouts, but times are tough and if our nation is to remain competitive with the rest of the world we need a solid base moving forward, which starts with our generation.
To ensure a solid future we need to ensure our health, without that our nation's future is in jeopardy. We need to help young Americans get through this period healthy, otherwise it could be the death of our nation and our generation could end up lying in an alley bloodied, battered and bruised.
Andrew Wible is a senior majoring in journalism and is The Daily Collegian's Friday columnist. His e-mail address is ajw5050@psu.edu.
