UA to pay teaching, research assistants' health care insurance

Jennifer Etsitty Arizona Daily Wildcat Jonathan Hartman, as chair of the Student Health Insurance Financial Taskforce, advocated for health insurance for graduate teaching and research assistants.

Under the new plan, graduate assistants can use the Student Health Center's services for free and seek specialized treatment outside of the center for a co-payment, which ranges from $5 for a standard visit to $100 for hospitalization.

"It's been something we've been working on for several years," said Dorian Voorhees, assistant dean of the Graduate college. "It's not a huge thing but it's a step in the right direction."

The insurance, provided by HealthPartners Health Plans, costs the university $388 per person each semester. About $770,000 was set aside to cover the costs for one year, UA Provost Paul Sypherd said.

"It's taken a whale of money," Sypherd said.

Still, the plan does not cover medication and excludes 10 percent of the assistants, said Jonathan Hartman, chair of the Student Health Insurance Financial Taskforce, a subcommittee of the Graduate and Professional Student Council.

The insurance does not cover medication because it would drive premium rates up too high, said Joyce Meder, assistant director of Campus Health Services.

"It's not a benefit we feel we can add at this time," she said, adding that the campus pharmacy charges slightly less than community pharmacies.

Hartman also said eligibility requirements make it difficult for some students to apply. Graduate assistants must take six credits and be employed as an assistant or an associate to qualify. Hartman said about 90 percent of students meet the requirements.

A report produced by four UA graduate students in April 1997 showed that eight of 16 peer institutions paid for their assistants' health insurance.

The study found the University of Virginia pays up to $1 million for each injury suffered by an employee, while the UA allotted $50,000 - the lowest in the study. Since the report was published, UA coverage has risen to $100,000.

Sypherd said insurance was not offered before because of budget constraints. Two factors allowed the UA to implement the benefits program - an increase in student enrollment and a larger university budget than in previous years, he said.

"For anyone who doesn't ... sweat over the budgets, it's easy to say the university can afford it," Sypherd said. "In the process of appearing cheap, we've improved classrooms."

The UA also wanted to improve benefits to attract graduate assistants, Voorhees said.

"We're always looking for ways to be more competitive," she said. "It makes recruiting better."

Hartman said he aims to extend the benefits beyond graduate teaching and research assistants to include all students - at an estimated cost of $4 million to $6 million for the more than 33,000 UA students.

"Our objective is to get this for everybody," he said. "I don't know if that will ever be a reality."

Stephanie Corns can be reached via e-mail at Stephanie.Corns@wildcat.arizona.edu.