The Impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on Students
Catalina Botero Soto • Norberto Namkoong
Advisor: Dr. Weili Lu
Since August 2013, a team of graduate students from the School of Risk Management and Insurance, formerly the Center for Insurance Studies, has been conducting research on the impact of the Affordable Care Act on students. The purpose of the study was to gain insight on how well students are informed about the ACA, their expected response to mandatory health insurance, and their perception of whether or not the program will benefit them. Subsequent research will focus on the economic impact of the law on students.
Given that the ACA is in its infancy, data collection was largely based on anonymous surveys answered by undergraduate and graduate students. Our first survey was based on responses from students on October 10, 2013, soon after the Health Benefit Exchanges went online. A second survey was conducted a month later on November 11, 2013 to corroborate the results of the first one. The general findings from both surveys were that the majority of students currently have health insurance through their parents' policies and that, as expected, students are not knowledgeable enough about the ACA.
Following is a link to more detailed information about the methodology and results of the latest survey:
To learn more about the ACA, visit:
To learn more about insurance and Obamacare, please take a look at the insurance classes offered by the School