What do urban college students really think about health insurance? A qualitative study

Abstract

Objective: To determine barriers and opportunities to health insurance enrollment among an undergraduate students at a large urban university. Participants: Participants were 31 college students enrolled in 4-year and community colleges in the City University of New York (CUNY), and six health services and insurance enrollment specialists who facilitate and assist in the health insurance enrollment process for CUNY students. Methods: Focus groups were conducted with students and in-depth interviews with key informants in May 2017. Results: The research revealed important insights into how students perceive and value insurance and yielded recommendations for the university to improve enrollment of its students. Conclusions: Many colleges can increase student enrollment in health insurance by informing and educating students about the process. Improving enrollment processes can increase insurance rates and improve student population health.

Keywords:

• Communications
• health education
• health insurance
• student health

Acknowledgments

The authors express appreciation to CUNY Distinguished Professor Nicholas Freudenberg and Patti Lamberson at the Healthy CUNY Initiative for working to improve the health of all students at the City University of New York, and for making this research project possible.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by a grant from the Professional Staff Congress - City University of New York (PSC-CUNY) Research Award Program in 2016.