Baldwin Wallace University has decided to stop offering student health insurance, starting next academic year as insurance providers are asking for a higher premium because of new coverage conditions under the federal health care reform.

The new health care insurance charges would have cost around $2,000 next fall, up from $400.

The university spokesman George Richard said that instead, they will now refer students to private providers because normally only 20 percent of the undergraduates enrol in the university plan. A majority decline as they are covered under parent's plan.

Across the country around 2,000 colleges and universities offer student insurance plans. Among these colleges, certain feature self-funded plans that do not fall under federal mandates.

Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act requires student plans handled by insurance companies to increase coverage bandwidth to $500,000 in 2013-14, and to provide unlimited coverage subsequently.

Until the Affordable Care Act was launched, the college health care plans did not feature any coverage requirements.

The insurance association said that frequent increases would slowly prompt colleges to abandon insurance and go ahead with self-funded plans or other policies.

Steve Jones, chief financial officer of Hiram College, said that the rate hike from $450 to $1,350 this academic year, has instigated the college to proceed with a self-funded plan.

Already around 65 students or 40 percent have dropped the coverage this year.

"I think you're going to see more schools drop this because it's too expensive," Jones said.

Even though the consumer advocates prefer self-funded plans in order to escape Obamacare requirements, they have raised concerns over self-funded plans too by saying that they offer fixed coverage with low annual limits on benefits.

Instead of offering student health care or creating self-funded plans, six Ohio universities have purchased insurance as a group that helped them restrict the costs increase to 15 percent for the 2013-14 academic year.

"It's a higher rate than this year. It's still a lot better than most universities," Eileen Guttman, supervisor of health and wellness service at Cleveland State University, said.

Approximately 1,200 of the university's 17,000 students have opted for health insurance this academic year, which costs around a minimum of $2,000.

Other universities that are part of this group are Northeast Ohio Medical University, Ohio University, Bowling Green, Wright State and Youngstown State universities.