Grad students facing higher cost of healthcare

A recently announced increase in health insurance rates has many of Penn's graduate and professional students concerned.

To help students gather more information about the new health insurance changes, Graduate Employees Together -- University of Pennsylvania held a meeting last Thursday to help address their frustrations.

With the announcement earlier this summer about the health insurance rate increases, questions have mounted over the new policies.

"Because fellow students weren't aware of the issues, the meeting was used to raise awareness," said Annenberg Ph.D. student Emily West, a member of GET-UP's health-care committee.

While all full-time Penn students are required to have insurance, graduate students will be the most affected by the change, since many purchase their own health insurance, from the University.

The Penn Student Insurance Plan will increase the rates of students without dependents to $1,350, a 35 percent increase from the previous year. The rates for students with spouses or dependents will remain unchanged.

In addition to providing this information to students, the meeting also provided a forum to voice concerns.

"A lot of people were very upset because the decision should have been made with more input from graduate students," West said.

As such, for the upcoming year, the group will urge the administration to change future health care setups.

"We will continue to pressure [University president] Judith Rodin, [Deputy provost] Peter Conn and [Student Health Services director] Evelyn Wiener through e-mails, calls and letters to voice our concern," West said.

In addition to the rate hike, certain benefits have decreased, causing students to pay more for less.

Not all graduate students will be affected by the change, as nine of the 12 schools pay for health insurance for the Ph.D. students while the other three offer higher graduate student stipends.

However, other graduate student groups see the health care situation as part of a nationwide problem.

Cornell University, whose premium is currently $950, is on the low end of the spectrum. Penn's rates last year were very similar to Cornell's.

Penn's rates rose because the contract with its insurance companies expired, causing a renegotiation of the contract. Agreements between school administrations and insurance companies typically last between 3 and 5 years, and Cornell is currently on the tail end of their contract.

"I would be surprised if Cornell doesn't have the same thing happen soon," Graduate Student Associations Council President Darren Glass said.

The premiums at Stanford University are almost double Penn's. Students who cannot afford coverage there were told to seek medical assistance from the state of California.

At Penn, however, GSAC and the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly representatives have already met with administrators to discuss the insurance increase.

"While many are unhappy about the changes in the plan... we can hope that coverage increases in the future [to match the premiums]," Glass said.

In addition, questions about how the rate increase will affect the marketability of Penn to attract the best graduate students have arisen.

While the premium increase might affect only a small percentage of Penn students, some people see the ramifications of the issue.

"What is better for graduate students is better for Penn, which is ultimately better for the quality of education," West said.

GET-UP, affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, is currently seeking the unionization of graduate employees, similar to what has occurred at many universities around the nation.

"If we had a union, then there would not have been the arbitrary change without additional student input about it," West said.

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