PLYMOUTH-Plymouth State University Student Michelle Morse has been struggling to maintain her academics despite her battle with colon cancer. Recently, her parents have been embroiled in a legislative battle to medically ensure college students facing serious medical conditions.
Michelle Morse was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2003 and was faced with a decision to be a full or part time student. Her normal health insurance company would not cover her if she dropped to part time.
Morse’s other option was to be a part-time student covered by COBRA. The COBRA plan would have covered Morse, however the cost would have been more than 500 dollars a month on top of the cost of regular insurance.
“There was no way we could have afforded that, on top of the hundreds of dollars we pay for prescription and co-payments for doctors visits a month,” stated Morse.
Morse faces a rigorous schedule. She is currently taking a total of 12 credits, which makes her a full-time student, and is student teaching the fifth grade at Bakersville Elementary in Manchester everyday from 7:45-3:30. In her first few semesters Morse tried not to miss classes. While taking her Methods course Morse was hooked up to a chemo pump.
“That was the hardest because I had to wear clothes that covered my pump so the kids would not see,” stated Morse.
In lieu of Morse’s difficult situation, her mother is currently trying to get a bill passed so that other people won’t have to face the situation that Morse is in. The proposed bill is House Bill 37. If the bill is passed, students with emergency medical conditions will be able to stay on their parents’ health insurance for up to one year. The bill only pertains to students who are unable to attend school full-time.
While the state has already tried to shut the bill down, the Morse family is still fighting to have HB 37 passed.
” So far we are getting lots of support from the public. People are hearing about my story through the many articles that have been published and we have been getting lots of phone calls and support from people who are in my situation and people who think it’s ridiculous and are outraged,” stated Morse.
Morse says that school has been a struggle, but she is thankful for the understanding and compassion her teachers have given her.
“They allow me to miss classes and have extra time on my homework if needed. The first semester I was going through treatments-I very rarely missed school. I would go to classes during the days I was hooked up to my chemo pump…As I stayed in school for other semesters, I would stay out the days I was hooked up receiving chemo.”
Morse added, “Although it has been difficult and there were many times I wanted to give up, I never did…I was never going to let it control my life. I would also like to tell anyone else going through this, or anything like it, not to give up.”