Health Insurance Plan Favored by Farnsworth

"Catastrophic insurance" to cover costs of prolonged student hospitalization may be instituted soon, Dr. Dana L. Farnsworth, director of the University Health Services, indicated yesterday.

Health fees would not rise under terms of the proposal, now under study by insurance firms. All students, however, would receive insurance protection for prolonged illness, with coverage beyond the scope of the present plan.

Insurance for maternity cases may be dropped, Dr. Farnsworth noted, and the fees usually applied for this service could then be used for the "catastrophic insurance. "We are working to revise the entire insurance structure, possibly getting another plan for maternity care, and, with the saved fees, establishing the prolonged-illness insurance," he commented.

Under the proposed program, married students will receive maternity coverage for a flat fee of about $250 per delivery. Final details of the plan, currently under discussion with the Boston Lying-In Hospital, have not yet been settled, though.

New Plan a Proposed Idea

About eight to ten students per year incur hospital bills which they cannot afford to pay, Dr. Farnsworth stated Monday evening at the Student Council meeting. He said that "the idea of catastrophic insurance was strictly a personal suggestion, to which I wanted to know student opinion."

Student health insurance, included in the Health Service fee, costs $20 per year for 12-month coverage. However, this insurance does not provide complete coverage; Dr. Farnsworth cited the case of a College student whose insurance covered only $2000 of $7800 hospitalization costs.