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Mandatory Insurance: Pros vs. Cons

The more people who form a group or "pool" for insurance purposes, the lower the premium is likely to be, because the risk is shared over a greater number of people. When negotiating insurance for students, if the group can be "guaranteed" by a policy that states everyone in the group must have insurance, then the premium will be even lower. More important, is that everyone in the group will have access to needed health care, and be protected from financial disaster when unexpected illness or accidents "happen".

At UCI, the graduate students voted in 1990 to support a referendum which created GSHIP as a mandatory insurance plan. The success of this program is seen in lower premiums they now enjoy, and the protection from extraordinary premium increases. This mandatory insurance requirement does not mean that all students must purchase GSHIP. It means that all students must have some health care coverage that meets minimum requirements designed to ensure they will get the care they need.

Below is a table that lists the pros and cons of mandatory insurance.

Pros Cons
  • health protection for all students
  • decreased premium costs for all participants
  • increased awareness for students of insurance coverage
  • inclusion of financial aid guarantees for a portion of the cost of GSHIP insurance
  • students freed to concentrate on their academic studies
  • increases cost of going to school for those who are uninsured now, and not on financial aid
  • slight inconvenience (but considerable benefit as well) for students to inform themselves about their coverage
  • to identify need at the time of registration
  • possible occasional expense for students with insurance that does not meet minimum requirements