Washington legislators are making the final push this week on the health care overhaul, and students — especially those about to graduate — will likely be one of the groups impacted most, an OU political science professor said.

Young adults typically have the least health coverage of anyone, and could reap potential benefits from a bill that requires everyone to have insurance, Michael Givel, political science professor, stated in an e-mail.

Givel said legislators are looking at two types of health care reform: A version from the U.S. House of Representatives and one from the U.S. Senate. The House version includes the public option that would compete with insurance companies, while the Senate version does not, particularly due to the influence of Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., and the Senate Finance Committee chairman. But both proposals would require that all Americans have health insurance with possible tax penalties if they do not, Givel said.

“So from the point of view of more universal health coverage, all proposals in Congress would benefit students,” Givel said. “The problem, though, is the ability to pay for required coverage, which everyone would be required to do.”

But nothing is set in stone yet. Givel said the House and Senate are still debating on how to pay for the plan, with the House proposing a tax on the rich and the Senate proposing a higher tax on insurance plans.

Dr. Boyd Shook, an Oklahoma City physician who attended a Doctors for America conference Monday at the White House, said it is almost certain the health reform bill will include a provision that will prohibit insurance companies from dropping patients for pre-existing conditions or getting sick.

“That seems to be 90 percent of the Congress and the American public agree with [including a provision],” Shook said.

Shook said the public option and the mandate that employers provide insurance for all employees would help lower the cost of the plan, but both are still up for debate this week.

“Those are two items that will be talked about a lot over the next few days,” he said. “The feeling of virtually all of the speakers [Monday] is that we’ll have a bill completed definitely by Thanksgiving.”

Givel said most of the private health care industry back reform that requires patients to purchase insurance.

James Sheffield, political science professor, said health care reform will likely impact students or recent graduates more than current students, many of whom are still covered on their parents’ insurance, because the bill would require everyone to have insurance.

“Unless there’s some sort of provision that makes it easier and less expensive for university health services to offer a wider array of health services to students, I’m not sure there’s going to be that large an impact [on students],” Sheffield said. “The possibility that university health centers are going to be able to do more than they normally do is minimal.”

Sheffield said the reform could cause students to encounter potential problems in the future.

“Cost of health care [is] going to continue to rise regardless of whether or not this bill passes,” Sheffield said. “I think students are going to find the cost of their health care is not going to be stable. As taxpayers down the road, this service is going to entail some sort of tax increase.”

Givel said there is no easy solution, as the proposals in Congress, particularly the public option, leave the likelihood for private health insurance companies to raise premiums, set high co-pays, raise deductibles and cut back on services provided. With the non-public option, health costs could still rise much higher than anticipated.

Another potential issue, Givel said, is that not everyone will sign up for health coverage even if it is required. This is evident in Massachusetts’ current universal health care program, which mandates the same thing.

“This is not a done deal,” Sheffield said. “To get the bill, it’s going to take a fairly monumental effort on part of the president and Congress.”