In response to the rising cost of student health insurance, a new task force has begun exploring alternatives to the UA's current health care plan.

"Students have a lot of legitimate concerns regarding the health insurance program and we need to stabilize the system," said Gordon Zaft, communications officer for the Graduate and Professional Student Council.

Early this fall, Zaft and other GPSC representatives began forming the Student Health Insurance Financial Task Force after hearing complaints about the high cost of insurance for University of Arizona students.

SHIFT is a seven-member committee consisting of four graduate students appointed by GPSC President Alex Sugiyama and three undergraduates appointed by Associated Students President Rhonda Wilson.

Zaft said SHIFT, which began meeting three weeks ago, will examine the current state of student health insurance by seeking input from students and administrators. The committee will evaluate alternatives to the existing insurance plan and make recommendations to GPSC for implementation of the proposed solutions, he said.

All UA students are eligible for health insurance coverage through Campus Health Partners. Under the Partners plan, a full year of health insurance costs $636 for a single student and $2,055.60 for a student and spouse.

Zaft said declining enrollment in student health insurance is causing steady price increases for coverage.

"Basically, the more the price goes up, the more that relatively healthy people drop out, which drives the price up even more," Zaft said.

This semester, 4,850 students were enrolled in the Partners plan.

Jonathan Hartman, SHIFT chairman, said student health insurance is overpriced because it is used primarily by students who cannot get insurance elsewhere.

Hartman, who earned a bachelor's degree in finance from the College of Insurance in New York City, said the insurance company is forced to raise the price of coverage because of excessive use from a concentration of unhealthy students enrolled on the plan.

"It seems that only the people who can't get insur-ance elsewhere are on the campus health plan and they use the hell out of it," he said.

Hartman said he thinks most undergraduates are still covered by their parents' health insurance and many graduate students cannot afford coverage with the Partners plan.

"My impression is that most people think the insurance program is pretty bad," he said.

If costs continue to rise, the university may not be able to continue the student health insurance program, Hartman said.

Dr. Murray DeArmond, director of Campus Health and Wellness Services, said SHIFT needs to find a way to cut costs without sacrificing quality coverage.

"We'd like to keep an affordable product available to students with a solid range of services," he said.

Although SHIFT has not yet come up with any solutions, Hartman said the committee is studying insurance programs at other universities in search of reforms for health coverage at the UA.

"We (SHIFT) would like to get a wide range of input and eventually bring the issue to the student body," Hartman said. "We want to improve this situation for everyone."

He said SHIFT plans to report its findings to GPSC in April.

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