UF to offer enhanced graduate student health insurance package

June 16, 2006

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The University of Florida will begin offering a new graduate student health insurance package in January, President Bernie Machen announced today.

The plan, known as GatorGradCare, will offer a substantial improvement in coverage at a lower cost, said Kyle Cavanaugh, vice president for human resources, who spearheaded the effort. Individual students will pay no premium under the new plan — and students with dependents will pay a lower premium than under the current plan while also significantly expanding their coverage.

Cavanaugh said the plan will cost the university about $1,440 annually per student, or a total of between $6 million and $7 million a year, depending on participation. About 4,500 of the university’s graduate students, including graduate assistants and research assistants, will be eligible for the insurance.

Half of the money that will be used to cover the cost of the plan will come from UF’s sponsored research funding. The rest will be paid by the university.

The new plan has received support from both the Graduate Student Union and the Graduate Student Council, who partnered with the university in designing and structuring the plan. The plan will be offered through Dallas-based Student Resources, a national provider in the graduate student health insurance market.

“The provision of a comprehensive health plan has been a strategic goal of the university for some time,” Cavanaugh said.

Machen said making the health insurance plan is important because of the students’ value to the university. Also, he said, the university must remain competitive with its peer institutions.

“The ability to attract and retain top graduate students is key to the University of Florida’s efforts to become one of the nation’s top public universities,” Machen said. “Graduate assistants are highly trained, technically skilled, and hard working. They are the foundation of much of the state universities’ cutting edge research and provide valuable and competent assistance to faculty in teaching laboratory skills and beginning undergraduate courses.”

Victor Romano, chief negotiator for the Graduate Student Union, said he is thankful to Machen and Cavanaugh for developing the plan.

“The health insurance plan that was presented today is the culmination of a decades-long push by the Graduate Student Union for fully subsidized, comprehensive health insurance,” Romano said. “Today the university is replacing a health insurance plan that was substandard with one that is among the most competitive in the nation.”