At the University of New Mexico we are trying to put in place a health insurance plan for TAs and RAs. The funding became available recently for students paid through I&G funds, and we are now scrambling to complete our planning before the semester ends. We would appreciate your responses to the questions below. Please e-mail your response to me directly at xxxxxx@unm.edu. Thank you in advance for your assistance. I would be glad to post a summary of the responses received. Ann Powell Special Assistant to the Associate Provost for Research Office of Research Services University of New Mexico Phone: (505) 277-2256 FAX: (505) 277-5567 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Health Insurance for Graduate TAs and RAs Please take a few minutes to answer the following questions related to health insurance for graduate students holding assistantships. In the questions below, TAs refer to students holding Teaching Assistantships or other similar positions, generally paid from unrestricted (I&G) funds. RAs refer to students holding Research Assistantships or similar positions, generally paid from restricted funds. Thank you in advance for completing these questions. Please feel free to add additional comments to your responses. TA=Teaching Assistant or similar positions RA=Research Assistant or similar positions 1. Please indicate with a YES or NO if you subsidize (or will be subsidizing in Fall 2000) any part of the health insurance premium for: TAs RAs 1a. If you do subsidize the health insurance premium, are students able to maintain their FICA exemption? If so, how do you accomplish this? IF YOU ANSWERED "NO" FOR BOTH TAs and TAs, NO FURTHER RESPONSE IS NECESSARY. 2. What is the total cost of the premium for each participant? TAs RAs 3. How much of this cost, if any, is paid by the student? TAs RAs 4. Please indicate with a YES or NO if you subsidize (or will be subsidizing in Fall 2000) any part of the health insurance premium for: Spouses/dependents of TAs Spouses/dependents of RAs 5. What is the total cost of the premium for the spouses/dependents and how much do you subsidize for: Spouses/dependents of TAs Spouses/dependents of RAs 6. What is the FTE eligibility requirement for subsidized health care premiums for: TAs RAs 6a. If the FTE drops below the minimum during the semester, what happens? 7. What is the minimum credit hour enrollment for subsidized health care premiums for: TAs RAs 7a. If the student's credit hour enrollment drops below the minimum during the semester, what happens? 8. Please specify any additional eligibility requirements for subsidized health care premiums for: TAs RAs 9. Do you subsidize the health insurance premium semester by semester or by the year? 10. If a student on an assistantship in the fall semester is not continued on the assistantship in the spring semester, do you pay the premium for the spring semester or just the semester in which the student held the assistantship? 11. If a student is on an assistantship both fall and spring semesters, do you pay the premium during the summer? 12. What health insurance plan do you offer graduate students holding TAs or RAs? The health insurance plan offered to all students The health insurance plan offered by the National Association of Graduate-Professional Students Provide students a set amount to be applied to their plan of choice Other (please specify) 13. Is health insurance mandatory for all TAs and RAs? 14. If you answered YES to #13, is there a Hard Waiver out of the plan (e.g., students certify that they have comparable coverage elsewhere)? 15. Who oversees the administration of your subsidized health insurance plan for graduate students? 16. Do you recover the costs of RA health insurance from contracts and grants? If so, what are the mechanics? 17. What is the total number of graduate students at your institution? 18. How many of these graduate students hold an assistantship (TA, RA, or both)? 19. How many of these students with assistantships participate in the health insurance premium subsidy? 20. Do you include a tuition waiver for graduate students holding TAs and RAs? If so, what are the details (e.g., full waiver, non-resident waiver, etc.)? What is the dollar value of this waiver? 21. What other benefits are offered to graduate students on assistantships at your institution? 22. Are you from a small, medium or large institution? 23. Are you from a public or private institutionk? 24. Approximately what was your volume of sponsored awards (FY99)? Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions. ====================================================================== Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists") ======================================================================
