Addressing a lecture hall filled with hundreds of medical and public health students, President Mary Sue Coleman told the audience, “My eyes are now open. The consequences of the uninsured are among the most pressing issues today.”

Coleman and Catherine McLaughlin, director of the Economic Research Initiative on the Uninsured, were guests at an April 16 colloquium at the Medical School.

Coleman began by outlining the goals and resulting reports of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Subcommittee on the Status of the Uninsured, which she co-chaired. Its purpose was to examine who the country’s uninsured really are, assess the individual and societal impacts of being uninsured, and make recommendations to policymakers.

Coleman referred to the six reports produced by her IOM group and made sure people knew the reports are available as free downloads from the IOM Web site, http://www.iom.edu.

She and McLaughlin discussed what it means to lack medical insurance.

“Lack of insurance is more acute today than it was 30 years ago,” Coleman said. “There have been so many advances in drugs that work, and improvements in the quality of life and longevity, that denial of access makes a bigger difference now than in years past.”

Students asked many questions, and the discussion turned to two central issues: whether or not policymakers have the political will to effect change, and what health care professionals can do to influence policy.

Coleman noted her committee calls for universal coverage by 2010 and hopes the deadline will inspire a bipartisan initiative in Washington. McLaughlin urged the students to view themselves as community leaders once they finish school and to challenge politicians to “take a stand.”

The event was sponsored by the Medical Student Forum for the Uninsured in recognition of Cover the Uninsured Week, a nationwide campaign by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to make the issue of the uninsured—and solutions to the problem—a central part of national discussions through public education and community events.

Cover the Uninsured Week takes place May 10-16, but campus and educational groups have encouraged schools to organize events earlier to prevent conflicts with exams and end-of-the-year activities.