Lawmakers were working to bridge differences between the House and Senate health care bills before the Jan. 20 Senate election in Massachusetts that eroded Democratic control of the Senate. With his upset victory over Democrat Martha Coakley, Republican Scott Brown will give the GOP 41 seats in the Senate, thereby ending the Democrats’ filibuster-proof majority of 60 votes.

Under Senate rules, the minority party can delay most major bills unless the party in control can limit such filibusters by gaining a “super-majority” of 60 votes.

For his part, President Barack Obama has signaled that, following the Brown victory, his administration may scale back its health care plans. Nonetheless, one other option under consideration in Washington was for the House of Representatives to discard its own health bill and pass the Senate measure, which then could go directly to the president’s desk.

Nationwide, about two-thirds of college students are covered under their parents’ health insurance plans, says James Boyle, president of College Parents of America, an advocacy group based in Arlington, Va. However, many of these families take out a student health plan so their child can receive treatment on campus, he said.

Many campus health systems only accept the student health plan, which is a “frustration” for many parents, Boyle told Diverse.

If lawmakers reopen a large-scale debate on health care, he said, “I would like to see Congress mandate that college health centers accept all forms of insurance.”

But Hoban countered that such a policy would be onerous for many colleges. Since many students attend college far from their parents’ homes, postsecondary institutions would have trouble gaining reimbursements from distant insurers. “It would be difficult to participate in hundreds of insurance plans across the country,” she added.