Illustration by Mike Padilla

Adrienne Walser, on top of the costs for tuition, books and rent, pays $100 a month for the prescription medication she needs for rheumatoid arthritis, which she's had since age 8. Also, every eight weeks, Walser, a graduate student of English, pays $400 for special drug injections to control the painful arthritis.

Although Walser has student health insurance, she has to pay for the prescriptions out of her own pocket because UA's student health insurance doesn't cover prescription drugs. Last year, in part because of these expensive drug costs, Walser had to return to working full time - meaning that she could no longer work as a graduate teaching assistant and could enroll only as a part-time student.

Walser is not alone. Many UA students need expensive prescription drugs for problems ranging from acid reflux disease to diabetes to the common cold, but they receive no help from their health insurance. Students at Arizona's three largest universities - the UA, Arizona State University, and Northern Arizona University - all suffer together under plans offered by the same insurance company, United Health Care of Arizona. The UA's version is called the Student Health Insurance Plan. Even though many students need costly prescription medications, and SHIP is the only comprehensive plan that the UA offers, SHIP provides absolutely no prescription drug coverage. There isn't even an option for add-on prescription drug coverage.

Without delving into other faults with the coverage, such as lack of dental care, SHIP falls far short of other universities' plans. For example, every other public school in the Pacific 10 Conference has a prescription drug option with their plans. These plans offer more coverage at comparable prices.

Why do Arizona universities provide such lackluster health insurance? Harry McDermott, executive director of Campus Health and Wellness, who coordinates the insurance program, defers blame to the Arizona Board of Regents. According to McDermott, regents negotiated the current contract, which lasts until 2007, on behalf of students at the three universities.

However, the university has the ability to opt out of the contract. It absolutely should. Students need a plan that offers, among other things, prescription drug coverage.

And Walser says a new plan doesn't even have to provide complete drug coverage. Even partial coverage would help.

Dillon Fishman Columnist

Student Regent Ben Graff recently pledged to continue working with Associated Students of the University of Arizona President Alistair Chapman to bring students better health insurance. Graff noted that, due to overwhelming student criticism of SHIP, administrators have agreed to form a committee to address this issue.

The committee is a step in the right direction, but isn't nearly enough. Ultimately, students need a better plan.

It shouldn't be difficult. The board of regents negotiates the plan on behalf of more than 112,000 students. With that sort of clout, there is simply no excuse for not securing a prescription drug provision.

Amanda Brobbel, president of the Graduate and Professional Student Council, brings up additional problems that SHIP poses to graduate students, who make up more than 60 percent of SHIP's enrollment. For example, many graduate students have uninsured dependents as a result of the program's high costs. The committee needs to keep these students in mind as it looks at new options. Brobbel notes that a plan that is so ineffective that students choose to go uninsured underscores the need for a new plan.

Some are attempting to take action to apprise students of other insurance options. Megan Nielsen, student body president of the James E. Rogers College of Law, for example, decided to put brochures in the mailboxes of law students, alerting them to another health insurance plan offered by a national organization.

Sadly, because of the slow pace of progress at the UA on SHIP, more students might have to follow Nielsen's lead and seek out other plans to help cover expensive prescription drugs. Indeed, Chapman himself admits to purchasing health insurance from an independent broker. It's clear that the problem is bad when the student body president won't buy the school's plan.

The bottom line is that committee meetings and jaw flapping are not enough. This new committee must not become just another meaningless forum for airing complaints. UA administrators need to ensure that the board of regents is a part of the discussion. In turn, regents should collaborate and facilitate progress, even if that means severing the three schools from the SHIP contract, negotiating a new contract or seeking a new insurance provider.

A popular country song gives relevant advice. The chorus goes: "Let's get on down to the main attraction with a little less talk and a lot more action."

Unfortunately, until then, Wasler and other UA students are all anchored to the same sinking SHIP.

Dillon Fishman is a third-year law student. He can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.