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Life Health > Health Insurance > Life Insurance Strategies

College Grads Value Health Insurance: Study

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Most new college graduates value having health insurance, according to a new survey from eHealthInsurance.

The national online poll of 532 college students ages 18-24 found that 62% of those who have graduated would rather live at home after graduating than go without health insurance.

Further, only 16% of college students told the researchers that they would be willing to give up health insurance if they had to cut back on spending after graduating college. That puts health insurance nearly on par with cell phones (13%) and access to the Web (12%).

Meanwhile, 72% said they would give up magazine subscriptions; 69%, eating out; and 63%, gym membership, if they had to after graduation.

However, only 41% of students could confidently define deductibles, the researchers say.

Still fewer could define other health insurance terms such as premiums (29%), annual out-of-pocket maximums (23%), lifetime coverage limits (23%) or coinsurance (15%.

And 58% had no idea how much an average individual health insurance plan would cost, says eHealthInsurance, Mountain View, Calif.

Other findings:

–60% of students are currently covered by a health plan that their parents provide.

–56% believe they will have health insurance the day after they graduate.

–29% of students would consider passing on a job if health insurance wasn’t offered or the coverage wasn’t what they expected. This is more of a deal-breaker than a flexible work schedule (16%), good retirement benefits (15%) or a desirable commute (13%).

The survey was conducted in April 2009 for eHealthInsurance by Kelton Research, Culver City, Calif.


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