Sacramento, CA – Senator Ed Hernandez, O.D. (D-West Covina), chair of the Senate Health Committee, and Senator Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica), chair of the Senate Education Committee, will be holding an informational hearing to review health insurance coverage and access to care for college students who live away from home while attending school.

College students who have coverage as dependents through their parents’ commercial health plan or through Medi-Cal managed care, may have gaps in their health coverage when they attend school away from home. This is due, in part, to the fact that Medi-Cal requires mandatory enrollment for most individuals in county-based or regional managed care plans, and an a student’s employer-sponsored dependent coverage is likely to be based on the parents’ home residence.

For students attending college away from home, these arrangements provide access to emergency and urgently needed services, but may not provide coverage for primary care, on-going specialist care, and other non-emergency services. Universities often offer student health coverage, and some require students to have insurance coverage. However, on-campus student health centers may not take students’ insurance. In addition, some universities have policies that require students to pay mandatory student health fees on top of coverage they may already have.

WHO: Senate Health Committee and Senate Education Committee members and panelists

• Deborah Kelch,  Executive Director, Insure the Uninsured Project
• Jennifer Kent, Director, Department of Health Care Services
• Sarah Brooks, Deputy Director, Health Care Delivery Systems, Department of Health Care Services
• Brad Buchman, MD, MBA, Chief Medical Officer, University of California Student Health and Counseling & University of California Office of the President
• Erica M. Romero, Vice President of External Relations, Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities
• Ray Murillo, Director, Student Programs, The California State University, Office of the Chancellor
• Jennifer Alley, Legislative Advocate, California Association of Health Plans
• Brianna Lierman, Esq., Chief Executive Officer, Local Health Plans of California
• Colleen Murphy Marticio, JD, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Center for Health Care Financing, The Schraffts Center (via remote access)

WHAT: Joint Informational Hearing of the Senate Committee on Health and the Senate Committee on Education: Health Insurance Coverage and Access to Care for College Students

WHEN: Wednesday, March 14, 2018 at 1:30 p.m.

WHERE: Capitol Room 4203

Here is the agenda and background document in advance of the informational hearing. For more information, visit the Health Committee website.

You can watch the Senate Health Committee hearing livestream on Wednesday here: http://senate.ca.gov/ (Click on either Live Streams in Progress or Today’s Events)

The Senate Health Committee is open to credentialed media – Please send RSVP to Diana.Crofts-Pelayo@sen.ca.gov

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