Graduate students receive their Health Care through the Cowell Health Center and under the Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP). Here are some recent events concerning graduate students with SHIP.
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Graduate students used to be covered in a separate insurance plan from undergraduate students (GSHIP vs. USHIP). Now all students are pooled together in SHIP and this relationship has resulted in some decreases in the amount that graduate students pay for coverage. Hopefully, this will also help in future negotiations concerning fees.
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Dental insurance was a long and hard battle for graduate students. Nevertheless, this benefit is not insurance, but rather a spending plan that now allows a $500 maximum yearly benefit. This is sufficient for routine dental care through Delta Dental providers, but as anyone who has had a root canal can testify, this doesn't cover much. The GSA will continue to monitor this situation and make sure that dental benefits are included in SHIP every year.
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This increased to $750 in 2008.
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Optical coverage was added in 2008 as well (see Health Care).
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Recently, dependent coverage was eliminated from SHIP. Based on the observation that dependent coverage through SHIP would cost a ridiculous amount for students, and assuming that those students would be able to get private dependent insurance, the SHIP committee eliminated the program. Part of the deal included providing dependent insurance advisory
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services through the Cowell Health Center. Yet, in eliminating dependent insurance, this has caused many families to fall through the cracks and become uninsured. The SHIP committee incorrectly assumed that it would be easy for students to find insurance for their dependents. Certainly there are state programs that cover women and children, but there is a large amount of bureaucracy to swim through to get into these plans. Also, dependents of international students are rarely able to procure private insurance. The GSA recognizes that the health care industry in general is going through a tough time, but we continue to work with campus administrators and strive to remedy this situation. Please don't hesitate to send us your stories of finding health insurance.
