Another Plan Bites the Dust…?
Just days after Franciscan University of Steubenville announced it was cancelling its student health plan due to Obamacare, another Catholic institution said it’s considering the same response. Once again, it’s not just the law’s infringements on religious liberty sparking Florida’s Ave Maria University to contemplate dropping coverage – it’s the massive premium increases sparked by the law’s new regulations: “The school’s insurance provider told them that students would be looking at a premium increase ranging from 65 to 82 percent in the coming year if no changes are made.” Ave Maria’s President said the institution needs “to communicate to students on why they’re going to see a huge spike in insurance,” but “just might get out of this business” altogether.
On one level, it’s ironic that while the President is attempting to re-connect with younger voters during his re-election campaign, students are about to see massive premium increases on the order of 60-80 percent thanks to Obamacare. No wonder the President’s first campus campaign rally met with thousands of empty seats – all the students were busy working extra hours to pay the higher premiums Obamacare is bringing them.
Second, as we previously pointed out, millions of union members received waivers from Obamacare – and specifically the new regulations on benefit limits that are causing premiums to spike at schools like Ave Maria and Franciscan. So, to re-state the obvious, if union members can receive Obamacare waivers to avoid massive premium increases and keep their current insurance, why can’t young people studying at Catholic colleges?