With healthcare coverage becoming a requirement for all Simpson students next year, many on campus are feeling the strain of figuring out what an extra financial burden will do to them or their families.

While the new policy is certainly going to be difficult for many students to manage, with the rising cost of healthcare bills, we do think that having insurance is necessary to survive in today’s world.

If someone were to have an accident or medical emergency, both the college and the student themselves would feel a little more at ease knowing that it was going to be covered. We would no longer need to choose between going to the doctor and buying groceries for the week.

Although we do think the plan is necessary, we also believe that students should have been given more of a choice. When the college quit providing free doctor visits, the students were not asked their opinion. If this decision had been brought up for debate with students, the only people directly affected by it, this healthcare debate today may not have been as much of an issue.

As a solution to the burden put on students by mandating healthcare, we propose a system in which students would be allowed choices in the plan they want. Instead of a one-size-fits-all plan, students would be able to choose between two or three plans varying in cost and coverage.

After all, students are the ones paying for the plan. If mandatory healthcare plans are such an issue in the presidential debate, they should be here on campus too. Every person gets a vote. Apparently, just not every student.