Hey everyone! My name is Alex Zuehlke and I’m a rising sophomore in the School of Health. I’m currently majoring in Healthcare Management and Policy with a minor in Economics, but I’m still figuring out exactly what I want to study. I’m from Madison, Wisconsin. :) 

My research project is titled “The Impact of Health Insurance Literacy on Timely Access to Healthcare.” My faculty mentor for the summer is Dr. Wu Zeng who works in the Department of Global Health. I first became interested in this topic when filling out all of the required forms about health insurance after committing to Georgetown. The US health insurance system is an extremely complicated mixed system with some publicly funded sources and hundreds of private insurance firms. American health insurance can be incredibly confusing, especially for younger adults, people that don’t speak English as their first language, and lower income families. For my project, I want to research the health insurance literacy of college students to examine trends within demographics and the impact of their literacy on their access to healthcare. Health insurance literacy refers to how well a person understands health insurance terms—like “PPOs vs HMOs,” “co-payment,” and “deductible”—and their ability to access appropriate care within their health insurance plan. I plan on making an anonymous survey that includes demographic questions, a short quiz about applied health insurance terms, and questions about how long the respondent waited before receiving care for their most recent health appointment that wasn’t an annual check-up. 

This is my first time doing research and I’m definitely nervous, but also super excited to learn more about how to conduct an independent research project. Health systems are super interesting to me, but I’m hoping that this summer will give me clarity on if I want to continue majoring in HCMP or go a different direction. Overall, my number one goal for the summer is to grow as a student and researcher. I can’t wait to hear about everyone’s research and meet you all!