It happens every time there is an election. Democrats say it; Republicans say it: “I will see to it that every American receives better health care.” However, once in office, they both forget to practice what they preached while campaigning.

College students do not receive the proper health care they deserve. The “real” cost of health care for college students while in college should be included in the tuition universities charge. If college students are going to attend college, work part-time jobs and take out loans, additional grants and loans should be available to help with funding for students to have better health care. While a larger amount of money and great health care do not guarantee a longer life, having money and great health care does provide a better opportunity for an individual in need of immediate health care assistance.

The following steps are a family health care research plan I am proposing for college students and residents who are having problems financing health care:

– Step one: Make a list of all your immediate family members. Include males and females on two separate sheets of paper.

– Step two: List on one paper all relatives who are alive and list on the other all who have passed away in the past 10 years.

– Step three: List the age and cause of death on one page of the proposal. On the other paper, list living family members’ ages and their illnesses.

– Step four: Go to your family reunions, Thanksgiving and Christmas gatherings and get as much information as possible during those all-day conversations regarding people’s health and lifestyles. Don’t be aggressive, but you can’t be too curious.

– Step five: When you have the results, organize them as you would a research proposal for a class. Write them up professionally and double-check information you are unsure about to make sure all is correct. With these results, you can start a family health care file.

– Step six: When you receive your paycheck, go get a full physical done at the doctor’s office. Once this physical is completed and the doctor begins to inform you of certain illnesses and begins to ask you questions about your family’s history of illness, it would make things a whole lot smoother if he or she could tell if what ails you is hereditary or if it is just something that happened to you.

This proposal is great because it can be passed on to your children. In addition, the cost of this research is free.

But it is up to you to decide how much effort you want to put into knowing about the health of your own family. Don’t wait until the next time you are sick to find out if your insurance covers your illness or if your illness is hereditary. If you find out now, you might be able to save money and a headache and start your own health care service by educating the community about health care affairs.

Columns reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily that of the Northern Star staff.