Fellow workers,
We hope that you and your families are having a safe, relaxing summer. This is a reminder that your coverage under the Student Health Benefits Plan (SHBP) expires on July 31, 2022. Coverage for the Fall semester begins August 1. If you are registered for 5 or more credits for the upcoming semester, you will be automatically enrolled in the SHBP. However, if you are signing up for a family plan, or you are registering for fewer than 5 credits (i.e. you are on continuous enrollment), you will need to enroll manually.
To enroll manually: fill out patientservices.
Whether you are automatically enrolled or need to enroll manually, the 95% cost reduction for the SHBP and health fees will be applied to your bursar’s bill—provided you are working in a GEO-protected position and earning the equivalent of a 190-hour assistantship at the GEO minimum rate (i.e. 10 hours a week for 19 weeks, the length of a standard semester contract). For more information about the details of the insurance cost reduction, write to us directly at geo.
A note on cost: As many of you know, GEO is currently bargaining with the university over our next contract. Due to the peculiar nature of this bargaining cycle—we will be going back into successor bargaining in 2023—we made the difficult decision not to bargain over changes to the health insurance plan. We made this decision in large part based on information we received from the university in early March concerning the financial stability of the SHBP’s reserves. At the end of June, we formally withdrew our major proposal pertaining to health insurance: that the university cover 100% of the SHBP for eligible grad workers. One day after this withdrawal, the university informed us that they would be increasing our insurance premiums by 20% for individuals and 15% for families. A snapshot of that increase and its impact on GEO members is provided below this email.
UMass cited inflation as the main reason for increasing premiums, but the timing of the notice is suspicious, to say the least. And it speaks to the disregard for graduate student employees the university has demonstrated in contract negotiations these past 9 months.
Our health insurance is one of GEO’s hardest-won benefits. It is clear the university is trying to erode the actual savings to graduate students—adding insult to the injury of their proposed pay cut and continuation of predatory fees. It is unacceptable and, frankly, immoral to expect graduate workers to cover the costs of inflation while UMass sits on an endowment of well over a billion dollars. Since we’re going back into bargaining so soon, we are committed to bringing this fight to the table—especially where the exorbitant cost to families is concerned. UMass only works because we do; it’s high time they treated us like the essential workers we are.
Again, if you have any questions, concerns, or issues with signing up for health insurance, please reach out to us. And if you’d like to get involved in efforts to organize around, and push back against, the criminal practice of making graduate employees pay for inflation, join GEO’s Slack workspace to connect with other rank-and-file members and start making plans!
Solidarity always,
GEO leadership
Changes to health insurance premiums for 2022-2023 (numbers are for ONE semester)
Grad Individual plan: $1,920, up from $1,597.50 (GEO RATE: $96, up from $79)
Grad Family plan: $5,370, up from $4,597.50 (GEO RATE: $268.50, up from $229)*
*the family plan’s cost is found by adding the individual SHBP to the cost of the family plan; that breaks down to $1,920 + $3,450 (up from $3000)
Additionally, there will be small increases to the student health fee and family fee as well:
Student Health Fee: $417.50, up from $407.50 (GEO RATE: $20.87, up from $20.37)
Family Fee: $1,382, up from $1,348 (GEO RATE: $69.10, up from $67.40)**
**Members using the family plan also pay the individual health fee, so the total cost of fees will be $20.87 + $69.10 = $89.97
