Health care fees can leave ‘a surprise’ for the cost of college

A recent study analyzed 40 universities’ health care fees, which can leave students and families with ‘a surprise’ for the true cost of college. 

“Mandatory medical insurance and health service fees are common at colleges as a condition of enrollment,” the Los Angeles Times reported. 

However, the LA Times continued, this surprise is “making a barely affordable education feel even less so.” 

Hodgkins, Beckley, and Lyon, a healthcare consulting company specializing in higher education, found that the average cost of university-sponsored healthcare is $226 for public universities, or $2,712 annually. For private universities, the costs are $295 per month, or $3,540 annually.  

The study included both public and private universities, such as the University of California at Davis, Arizona State University, the University of Florida, Dartmouth College, Northwestern University, and Duke University. 

One of the universities studied, the University of Virginia (UVA), requires students to be enrolled in its student health insurance policy unless they have a “comparable plan.” 

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A list of requirements show that the insurance plan must provide “unlimited medical benefits per sickness or injury,” “in-patient care and outpatient care coverage (including visits for behavioral health) within a 75-mile radius of the Charlottesville area,” and “in-patient treatment and outpatient treatment coverage for substance abuse.” 

Healthcare costs “are expected to be at levels that are higher than the average increase over the past five years,” according to the study. The reasons, the study continued, were “[h]igher costs for mental/behavioral health care services, prescription drug costs, and cost increases being implemented by health care providers in negotiations with health insurance payers.” 

An op-ed in Campus Reform argued that some colleges and universities used behavioral health expenses to justify increasing tuition, but the price of tuition actually worsens students’ mental health.

Campus Reform referenced a survey “by The Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors,” which said that “‘87.3% of directors reported experiencing an increased demand for counseling services in the past year.’”

“Little is mentioned, however, that the growing demand for mental health services is parallel to rising education costs,” the op-ed continued. “While tuition has been rising for more than a century, according to an Education Data Initiative report, the increase in recent years has been staggering.”

Reproductive health and “[g]ender affirming treatment” join counseling and substance abuse treatment as covered services under UVA’s health insurance plan. Women can receive “voluntary sterilization procedure[s]” and coverage for part of the negotiated or recognized charge for abortion.

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Students receiving “[g]ender affirming treatment” can pursue “[s]urgical, hormone replacement therapy, and counseling treatment,” a “[t]racheal shave,” “[e]lectrolysis of face and neck,” “[n]ipple reconstruction,” “[v]oice and communication therapy,” and “[c]hest binders.”

In the summer of 2022, UVA was the only public university in Virginia without a plan to reverse its tuition increase, despite a request from Governor Glenn Youngkin. 

The UVA Board of Visitors decided against raising tuition after a meeting the following September and “issue[d] a singular $690 credit to undergraduate state residents for the 2022-2023 academic year,” Campus Reform reported. 

Campus Reform contacted the University of Virginia and Hodgkins, Beckley, and Lyon for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.