For the 2023–24 academic year, Ithaca College has changed providers for its Student Health Insurance Plan and adjusted their requirements for waiving the college-provided plan. These changes have caused confusion for students, despite the new plan creating a better costs-to-benefits ratio. For students to understand these changes and avoid frustration, the college must offer education on the plans and on health insurance in general. 

Health insurance is confusing. It is one of those “life skills” that people are never taught about but are absolutely expected to know about and how to best take advantage of it. 

Every student at the college is required to take some kind of seminar — be it a first-year Ithaca seminar or transfer student seminar — that teaches them about the college and how to be a successful student. In these courses, students learn important skills, including how to write an essay and how to create a plan for their remaining years of college. Also, before their first semester starts, students are required to complete a series of trainings on topics like alcohol awareness, sexual violence awareness and diversity, equity and inclusion training. Because these systems already exist, it should not be difficult to implement units on other life skills. Along with understanding health insurance and its terminology, students could learn about skills like doing taxes, writing resumes and more. 

There is an argument to be made that it is not the responsibility of the college to teach such skills, but these skills are also not being taught in most high schools. Furthermore, according to a 2019 study published in the National Library of Medicine, when compared to 44-to-64-year-olds, 18-to-24-year-olds were 151% more likely to have a poor knowledge of health insurance terms and 44% more likely to not feel confident using health insurance. Health insurance is essential in the U.S., where healthcare is exorbitantly expensive. Therefore, it is crucial that students understand health insurance and how it works. This is especially true for international students who are coming from countries with healthcare systems that operate differently and who are likely even less familiar with the U.S. system. The goal of a college is to prepare students for a successful and prosperous life and to do this, the college must educate students beyond typical classroom skills.