Alina Popov / Roundup
While universal health care is still on its way, discounted medical services are already in place.
The mandatory health fee all Pierce College students are charged at registration is not insurance, but it does buy access to the Student Health Center, presently located in the the new Student Services building.
The $11 fee, which costs $8 in the winter and summer sessions, pays for all the medical supplies including Band-Aids, gauze, cotton balls, condoms, feminine-hygiene products and over-the-counter medications, as well as Health Center personnel salaries.
Ashley Rodriguez, a newly enrolled nursing major, was not familiar with health care on campus.
“I think a pamphlet would be convenient when you pay for registration because I had no idea about the services,” said Rodriguez, 18.
Paying the price
It doesn’t cost students anything to visit the Center, allowing them unlimited consultations.
Beth Benne, R.N., director of the Student Health Center, said a basic visit to an outside general practitioner costs a minimum of $65.
Avior Ovadya, an international student from Israel, was happy to get an appointment within one week to see a doctor for his back pain.
He came to the United States two months ago and it made him “feel comfortable” to have a doctor right on campus.
“I don’t know any other doctors outside of the school,” said Ovadya, 22. “It was convenient for me to come right after the class.”
Benne said if a checkup doesn’t point to any specific problem, but a student feels sick, additional tests should be performed to check for a probable infection.
Tests such as blood or urine samples are charged by a lab and are not covered by the health fee, so students need to pay for them.
Benne said paying through the center only costs “a fraction” of an outside provider’s cost because students only pay a lab fee.
Routine exams and STDs
“Young people usually don’t care about this until they have symptoms, until they’ve been infected, until they have an STD (sexually transmitted disease)or until they get sick,” Benne said. “Young people feel that they are a little invulnerableit’s not gonna happen to them. My own kids feel the same way.”
Benne highly emphasizes the importance of preventive measures by having yearly exams, getting seasonal flu vaccines, having annual Pap smears and, for sexually active students, STD tests. They also emphasize how easy it is to treat things like a urinary tract infection if you get help for it as soon as you notice symptoms.
“Prevention is a key to our success,” Benne said. “It encompasses everything from basic hygiene, like washing your hands or using a Kleenex, to wearing a condom every time you have a sexual encounter, or making sure your partner wears a condom because you’ve got to protect yourself. “
Sexually active people should get STD testing on a regular basis if they have engaged in unprotected sex because, according to Benne, you can’t tell right away if you have disease as symptoms go undetected for long periods of time. This is why you need to get tested as soon as possible and preferably you should get tested regularly if you are sexual active. There are so places you could go, for example you could get an std test in charlotte nc, but if that’s too far from you, then don’t worry there are loads of places that you could go to.
Adolescents and young adults, age 15 to 24, have high rates for the most common STDs. People in this age group have been estimated to acquire nearly half of all STD incidents although they represent only 25 percent of the sexually active population, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Chlamydia is the most frequently reported STD contracted among young persons of all age groups. In 2006, among adolescents aged 18 to 19 years, 162,823 cases were reported in females and 35,155 in males.
Nearly a quarter of females aged 15 to 19, and 45 percent of those aged 20 to 24 had a human papillomavirus (HPV) infection during 2003-04.
If not treated timely STDs can cause serious complications and irreversible damage to the reproductive system.
By working on a contract with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, the Student Health Center is able to provide free chlamydia and gonorrhea testing (usually at a cost of $26 per test) and, if it turns out positive, treatment is free (treatment normally costs around $50).
In an effort to prevent teen pregnancy and teen STDs, students under 18 are not required to have any form of signed parental consent for related testing and treatment.
Benne says students should never worry about confidentiality, as their records can’t be seen by their professors, friends or “even their mother.”
Psychological well-being
Students can talk to somebody in the SHC if they experience psychological problems that interfere with their emotional or physical health.
According to Benne, two licensed clinical psychologists are available for 20 hours a week and students can see them for six 45-minute sessions per semester at no cost. Outside Pierce, a 45-minute session with a licensed psychologist would cost a minimum of $100.
Importance of major medical insurance
Students with insurance can still can go to the center to get a first or second opinion, since in most cases it will cost much less than a copay for medical insurance and students most likely will not meet their deductibles for the year and would be responsible for the full costs of those services.
However, Benne strongly advises students not to cancel their health coverage while in college.
“Major medical is absolutely critical,” Benne said. “People who are uninsured don’t know about it, and people who are insured don’t always realize how much out of pocket money they will have to pay.”
Students can obtain student coverage, which is cheaper than a regular plan but highly desirable. The college Web site explains the different options that are available.
There are days when the Health Center sees anywhere from 30 to 40 students, so an appointment is recommended to see any providers (and a must for a psychologist) and at least two weeks ahead for a physician, and from 48 hours to one week for a nurse practitioner.
—
apopov.roundupnews@gmail.com
