The Graduate Student Association (GSA) is a representative student government and advocacy group working for over 8,000 graduate and professional students at the University of Georgia. We advance student rights and interests, hold exciting socials, organize community service events, and keep students informed about issues relevant to graduate student life at UGA.
DATE TIME BUILDING ROOM
Aug-26 6:30 PM MLC TBA
Sep-23 6:30 PM MLC TBA
Oct-21 6:30 PM MLC TBA
Nov-18 6:30 PM MLC TBA
The President of GSA will gladly speak with any group about the purpose of GSA and the benefits we provide to all graduate and professional students at UGA. In order to schedule a speaking engagement, please send a request to gsa@uga.edu. Thank you for your interest in the Graduate Student Association.
VIDEO: Graduate Health Insurance - International Student from Ethopia
Dear UGA Community:
Today, I met an international student who has had appendicitis. He went to the health center in order to obtain the necessary referral to seek medical treatment at the hospital. By the time he received treatment, his appendix had burst. He was hospitalized for seven days. His parents still live in Ethiopia and do not have the money to pay for the medical costs that a reasonable insurance policy would have covered. He has no idea what to do.
He situation is not unique. Rather, he is one of many students who will fall victim to the recent changes to graduate health insurance.
It is time we have a discussion as graduate students, but also as an institution. Is this really the best insurance that we can provide for the graduate students who are teaching courses and performing research?
We do have an alternative. Using an insurance rider, a $57 increase in the annual premium would lower the maximum out of pocket to $5000 (instead of $10,000). Alternatively, an $86 annual increase in the premium would bring the maximum out of pocket to $2,500, which would be the same level as the policy last year. You need to know that the University Administration has indicated that it may not subsidize this additional amount at 40 percent as they do our current premium.
To be fair, adopting a policy rider would mean that we as graduate students will pay the insurance company an additional $160,000 while the benefit we receive will not approach this amount. Put differently, some have argued that only 21 students will exceed the maximum out of pocket of $2,500, which some have said calls into question the grounds for an increase in premium for everyone.
We believe that this simplistic cost-benefit analysis ignores many externalities such as the productivity lost in credit hour production, the potential damage to the quality of instruction, and the potential damage to our competitiveness as a graduate institution. GSA believes that a medical condition could happen to anyone and that the additional expense is justified. Your perspectives may vary.
Please send your thoughts and concerns to gsa@uga.edu. We are engaging you because your input matters! We will not repeat the mistake that the Regents made by excluding your perspectives in this decision.
Very respectfully,
William Rooks
