Michelle’s Law guarantees full-time students medical leave
We’ve talked about maintaining health insurance after graduating college, but what about those who are in college and get sick? Healthcare coverage through a parent’s plan usually dictates that the student must attend class full-time. If the he or she is too sick to attend, guess what, they are no longer a full-time student. So what’s are the other options? For some it’s COBRA, but COBRA is expensive. Enter Michelle Morse’s story. After being diagnosed with cancer Morse continued to attend college classes on a full-time basis in order to remain insured. She would eventually succumb to her illness. However, thanks to her family’s efforts a law, Michelle’s Law, was passed in her home state of New Hampshire in 2005.
“The legislation ensures that seriously ill college students can continue to receive health care insurance through their family’s health insurance policy even if they are unable to maintain their full-time student status…”
President Bush signed the bill into law last year. And as of October 9, 2009 group plans will guarantee a student up to one year leave of medically necessary absence.
October 9th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Matt, thanks for this sad but hopeful at the end story. PS–everyone should go to that website–it’s a wonderful tribute. The federal law takes effect today!!! However if our health “care” system had any kind of ethics about it, these sort of sickening practices would not be put up with/tolerated. I can only reiterate that the health “care” industrial complex is so immoral and obscene that it’s hard to get your head around it….remember their professional staffers who get bonuses for canceling sick folks’ paid-for (like Michelle’s family had) insurance policies, remember their Washington lobbyists who spend millions and millions of health”care” dollars to influence/bribe our lawmakers to vote their way…..and so on. Thanks again for your writing and organizing of this blog, so glad you’re doing a little better as you wrote at end of September! God Bless, Bonnie
October 13th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
[...] In June, I was rushed to the emergency room with bilateral abdominal pain. I spent twenty-two hours in the ER and there was told I had a malignant mass, gastroenteritis, Crohn’s disease, an ovarian torsion, or most unlikely, appendicitis. Following two inconclusive CAT scans and a sonogram, I was admitted to the hospital without an official diagnosis. My general practitioner had given up her hospital privileges unbeknownst to me, and as a result, I was admitted with no private physician and placed under the care of a surgical team. A week later, after my mother insisted that I have an MRI, I was finally diagnosed with perforated appendicitis (the perforation having most likely occurred in the ER), mesenteric lymphadenitis, diverticulitis, colitis, ileitis, and peritonitis. The complications only worsened after the surgical team changed the antibiotics prescribed by the infectious disease doctor, and I went septic. At that point, I was NPO and not allowed anything by mouth for twelve days. Another mistake was made when my healthcare team failed to start me on total parenteral nutrition (TPN) after ten days, and organ failure became imminent. It took a total of three weeks in the hospital for me to be stable enough to return home with a PICC line and visiting nurse for IV antibiotic therapy. Although my illness was the first battle, troubles with my insurance company did nothing to help the situation. I was sent a statement of liability for $85,000 in August after the participating hospital failed to perform the necessary precertification. In September, I was notified that my coverage had been dropped effective September 1 due to loss of full-time student status, even though I was granted a medical deferral. The person in charge of terminating my coverage, who was well aware of my medical condition, had actually called requesting transcripts September 2—something that had never been done before. Weeks away from surgery at another hospital, my initial reaction was to feel disgusted with the system and give up, but blessed with an amazing and supportive family, I was able to continue battling the insurance company. Thanks to the heroic efforts of the Morse Family, my insurance is now forced to maintain my coverage under Michelle’s Law. [...]