National reforms to affect college students

Over the past two weeks, President Barack Obama has signed two new bills into law that have a direct impact on college students, as well as the rest of the U.S. poplulation. Students will see a direct impact from the new laws. This is how:

Health care reform

On March 23, changes to American health insurance policies became a reality.

The new bill allows students and non-married citizens to stay on their parent’s health insurance plan until the age of 26 unless they have an offer of coverage through their employer and beginning in 2014 even if they have an offer of coverage through their employer. Under the current system, students can typically only be considered for health insurance if they are claimed as a dependant on their parents’ taxes and they are full-time students under 23 years of age. Students may not see this change until fall semester since the health insurance companies don’t have to change their policy until September.

The new law also extends coverage opportunities to many Americans who cannot afford to have health insurance. The new changes will be phased in over the next 10 years. Many of the bill’s effects won’t be seen for some time, other sections will have immediate impacts.

Some of the changes that will be seen in 2010 include more protection for individuals with insurance from insurance companies. The law prohibits companies from placing lifetime caps on coverage. Insurance companies also will not be allowed to deny children coverage due to pre-existing conditions.

The passing of the health care reform bill included a lot of heated discussions on both sides of the aisle. According to a Gallup poll released March 30, 44 percent of those surveyed believe health care coverage in the U.S. will get worse as a result of the new law. Forty-four percent of those contacted feel that the law will make health care coverage in the U.S. better. GCSU’s campus remains just as divided as elsewhere.

“I think (the health care bill) is a great idea because there’s a lot of good people, such as small business owners, that work hard but can’t afford health care for them or their employees,” said senior history major Suzy Deacon.

Other students, such as junior political science major Joe Fagan, are quick to point out the downsides of the government changing the health care system.

“Nothing the government gets involved in runs efficiently, I mean look at the DMV,” Fagan said. “Higher taxes are going to be coming into play.”

Fagan doesn’t totally disagree with the entire bill.

“I do think someone who has pre-existing conditions shouldn’t be denied coverage, but that’s not done in 3,000 pages,” Fagan said.

Student loan reform

In addition to the passing of health care reform came the passing of a new student loan law. Currently students are able to get federal funds to help pay for school, but banks handle all the loans. Under the new system the government would handle everything, eliminating the middleman. GCSU was already preparing to switch to direct lender loans.

“We already had made the decision before the bill passed that we were going back (to direct lending) full force,” said Director of Financial Aid Cathy Crawley. “Every student (that needs a loan), no matter what, is going to be in direct lending in 2010-11.”

The federal student loan system is also being reformed following the passage of the health care bill. Federal loans will be given and collected by private companies that are under contract with the Department of Education. According to Obama, these changes will save taxpayers around $68 billion over the next 10 years.

“The loan process will be faster, they’ll still have to apply for aid though,” Crawley said.

Another change to the federal loan system is a cap on a student’s loan repayment for students that borrow after July 1, 2014. Graduates would be able to cap their loan repayments at 10 percent of their income. If graduates pay regularly over time their debt balance will be forgiven after 20 years.

According to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, those in the public service field, such as teachers, nurses and military personnel, would see any remaining debt forgiven after 10 years of work.

The newly passed bill also increases and ensures the Pell Grant program for low-income students. Pell Grants are given to low-income students to help them afford college. The amount given in the grant depends on the student’s family contribution, the cost of attending school and the student’s enrollment status.

“(The bill) ensures that there’s not a shortfall meaning that they’re going to work against a balanced budget,” Crawley said. “They will make sure the money’s there to fund Pell every year.”

The Pell Grant increases begin rolling out in 2013. Over $40 billion will be invested into the program to increase the number of grants awarded to students. By the 2020-21 academic year more than 820,000 additional grants will be distributed.

Posted by Matt Chambers on Apr 2 2010. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry