5 CULTURE
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Sparking Joy: NYU Students Tidy Up
The Changing Face of Journalism
7 ARTS
Patriots Defeat Rams 13-3 in Super Snoozefest
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Terrance Hayes Talks Trump, Teaching at NYU VOLUME LII | ISSUE 2
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2019
NYU Lies to Graduate Students About Healthcare Plan
NYU repeatedly claimed a New York State agency required them to consolidate two healthcare plans — at students’ expense. The agency told WSN the requirement does not exist. VICTOR PORCELLI | WSN
NYU consolidated the Graduate Student Health Insurance Plan with its Comprehensive plan, and now some graduate students have higher co-pays and less coverage on its insurance plans. The New York State Department of Financial Services told WSN that this was not a requirement, even though the university informed graduate students multiple times that it was.
By VICTOR PORCELLI News Editor Last summer, over 1,000 students in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences were notified that they would face higher co-pays and less coverage under NYU’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan. They were told by multiple administrators that the New York State Department of Financial Services required it. However, according to a spokesperson at the Department of Financial Services, this is untrue and
the decision to consolidate the plans was made exclusively by NYU and its health insurance company. Before the consolidation, fully-funded graduate students in GSAS under the Henry M. MacCracken program had access to the Graduate Student Health Insurance Plan, with access being offered to their dependents — including children and spouses — at a subsidized rate. On June 20, Executive Director of the Student Health Center Dr. Carlo Ciotoli and Dean of GSAS Phillip Harper sent out similar emails notifying these students that beginning in fall 2018, GSHIP would be consolidated
with one of NYU’s other student health insurance offerings, called the Comprehensive Plan. “The New York State Department of Financial Services has required NYU to consolidate two of its student health insurance plans — the Graduate Student Health Insurance Plan, or GSHIP (in which you are enrolled, and which serves only fully-funded graduate students) and the much larger Comprehensive plan — into a single plan,” the email reads. The changes would result in a $10 increase in copays, as well as 90 instead of 100 percent coverage of
certain tests, including X-rays and durable medical devices at the Student Health Center. Five days after being notified, NYU’s Graduate Student Organizing Committee, which is a union for graduate workers including teaching, research and graduate assistants, filed a grievance with human resources alleging that the consolidation violated their 2015 contract with the university. Under Article XIX of their contract, employees’ conditions of employment are to remain the same until the contract expires Aug. 1, 2020. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2