As Northwestern’s health insurance program rates rise 45 percent this year, the Graduate Student Association hopes a new student health insurance advisory board will persuade NU to subsidize graduate student health insurance.
The advisory board was created last week after graduate student complaints lodged when administrators announced a three-year rate hike in the university’s not-for-profit health insurance plan in April. Graduate student health insurance rates increased from $812 to $1,184 this year and undergraduate rates increased from $608 to $889.
“It’s really a positive step in establishing ongoing communication with administrators,” GSA President Vandna Sinha said. “It’s a major part of what people wanted to see from last year.”
The advisory board, which will consist of six graduate students and one undergraduate student, will provide a means for students and administrators to discuss health insurance issues, said Christopher Johnson, NU’s director of risk management, who will serve as the administrative liaison for the board. The board will begin meeting after the GSA announces the members, he said.
“I agree with the students,” Johnson said. “It’s their money they pay into the pool to insure themselves and I think we have an obligation to keep them informed.”
Though GSA leaders said the board undoubtedly will improve communication, they said it probably will not advance GSA’s goal of having NU fully subsidize graduate student insurance. The board primarily will discuss specifics of the insurance plan, such as benefits.
“Our idea is to focus not so much on benefits but to get the administration to catch up to other schools that are fully subsidized,” GSA member Mauricio Drelichman said.
Because some competing institutions, such as Duke, Cornell and Columbia universities, have subsidized insurance plans, NU could lose graduate students to other schools, Drelichman said.
Graduate School Dean Richard Morimoto said administrators are considering full or partial subsidies but have yet to reach a decision.
Administrators gave a one-time $147 credit to graduate students last year to help defray the $372 increase. Some graduate students also received a stipend of about $100 to offset the costs.
Ultimately, graduate students hope to achieve full subsidization rather than temporary reductions like stipends and credits, Sinha said.
“We feel really good about the strengthening of relationships that happened last year,” Sinha said. “We felt really glad our group was able to work with administrators to pull out some money even after the budget was set.”
No credits have been announced to offset the hike planned for next year, Sinha said, so graduate students will have to foot the bill for the increases.
GSA members said they will meet with graduate school deans and work through the advisory board to get university assistance, but said that receiving subsidies this year will be difficult because of rumored budget cuts.
“We are actually going for full subsidization because that is what we are seeing in the bigger picture,” Drelichman said. “Of course, anything that helps our current situation is good.”
