University should introduce health care class

In New Hampshire, college students have to find their own health care after graduation day. The law differs from state to state – New Jersey kids can stay on their parents' plan until they're 30 – but the Granite State's tough love has many UNH seniors and recent graduates in a state of panic.

We suggest the university ease those worries: spread the word. The plan for a January term just started, so why not hire a professor to teach a three-week class about the American health care system? It sure beats a social media class on how to properly use Twitter and Facebook.

Or if that's too expensive, have a professor or an expert or an outsider come to Durham and hold an information session in the MUB for students who want to find out the common health care problems they'll face after graduation and the best ways to avoid them. Students would show up if it's properly advertised and promoted.

The University Advising and Career Center has meeting times every week for students who don't know anything about writing a cover letter or how to build a resume; learning about health care in life after graduation is just as essential.

It's a lack of information. Most students watch the bill slide to their parents and never think twice about how they'll handle it on their own. That's why so many young adults are without health care and risking untreated illnesses or injuries. It's dangerous and unwise to live without health care, but what other options exist when you're unemployed and clueless about the system and its policies?

It's a simple fix to an important problem. College students don't know what they're up against when they graduate. Paying for health care on top of rent, student loans and food can be tough for anyone right out of college, and without the proper knowledge many students are choosing the risky alternative to go without any health care at all.

President Obama is working hard to persuade Congress to pass his health care reform bill, but in the meantime college students need to find ways to crack the current system. The university has a responsibility to prepare its paying students for the next step, and tackling health care is a vital part of that task.