Working together, graduate students and faculty from across the university have been making important progress toward enhancing health insurance coverage for our graduate teaching and research assistants. The letter to the editor in Monday’s Daily Orange regarding health care benefits is factually incorrect and misrepresents the objectives and spirit of this process. We write to set the record straight.

Syracuse University is proud to provide access to university-subsidized health care benefits to all of our graduate assistants. Recognizing the opportunity to make these benefits even stronger, we established the Graduate Assistant Health Insurance Committee, a joint working group comprising members of the Graduate Student Organization’s executive board and university faculty and staff. The committee has been actively reviewing ways to enhance health insurance for graduate assistants in a collaborative, deliberate and comprehensive manner.

Based on initial feedback from graduate students, the committee is focused on identifying new or updated health care options that will help achieve four key priorities:

1. Delivering superior benefits that address the needs of graduate students at lower costs;
2. Ensuring continuity of coverage regardless of a graduate student’s changing assistantship status;
3. Providing options for students to elect vision and dental coverage; and
4. Ensuring that graduate students can cover any required costs for university-subsidized coverage on an installment plan rather than in a lump sum.

Contrary to Monday’s letter to the editor, absolutely no decisions have been made yet to alter the existing available health plans. Through a series of open meetings and office hours, the committee is actively soliciting feedback from graduate students. This is consistent with the type of review that the university typically undertakes for each of its health plans every two to three years to ensure that those covered are getting the best service and benefits at the best price. This feedback will help us find the plan or plans that best fit our graduate student community. Our committee looks forward to presenting an update on proposed plans once we have completed the request for proposal (RFP) process.

The Graduate Assistant Health Insurance Committee is committed to an open, candid and consultative approach as we work to develop a strong outcome together. Participation in the process is critical, encouraged and appreciated.

Sincerely,

Professor Thomas Dennison, Maxwell School

Co-Chair, Graduate Assistant Health Insurance Committee

Dean Peter Vanable, Graduate School

Co-Chair, Graduate Assistant Health Insurance Committee

Published on February 27, 2018 at 10:21 pm