Crains New York - August 27, 2012 - (Page 6)

Back-to-school special. Not! College students are greeted with big hike for health insurance BY MARY SHELL It’s back-to-school time, and along with the familiar pinch of tuition hikes, students at New York University, Columbia and the City University of New York are in for another unpleasant expense: double-digit increases in student health insurance premiums. NYU students face a 33% hike, and Columbia’s students will look to an 11% rise in basic health plan costs on top of health services fees that can approach $1,000. CUNY’s insurer, Emblem Health, recently informed administrators that rates for the upcoming school year would spike due to escalating health care costs and low enrollment in the program, said Luis Manzo, director of mental health and wellness services. have to pay for health care regardless of whether they can afford it. “If anybody is going to require you to buy a product, you should have some say,” said Rana Jaleel, an NYU Ph.D.candidate who is among 1,800 graduate students who have their premiums paid by the school. Private schools like NYU and Columbia believe the requirement leads to lower costs because it forces healthier students who spend less on health care to enroll in a plan. Half of NYU’s 23,000 grad students and 43% of undergrads enroll. NYU says its premium hikes were due to higher plan utilization and better benefits required by the Affordable Care Act. Medical inflation also surpassed the predicted trend, according to a university spokesman. CUNY, by contrast, does not require the purchase of health insurance, and students there pay nearly twice as much. Their annual premiums totaled nearly half the cost of in-state tuition last year. That’s a major reason only 1,000 CUNY graduate and undergraduate students—out of 165,000 full-time students—enrolled in the school’s health plan. Nearly 45% of respondents to a CUNY undergraduate survey in 2012 said they were uninsured or covered by Medicaid. Soaring health costs have been a problem for students. When Gov. Andrew Cuomo was attorney general, his office found that many schools were overcharging for health insurance while offering plans that did not necessarily cover pre-existing conditions or pharmaceuticals,and had low per-illness limits and overall caps. Some schools hope they can save money by self-insuring, paying only for the medical care students use, banking on the fact that most young people are healthy. They can do so now, thanks to a new statute Mr. Cuomo signed into law in July. Affordable options would mean a lot for students like Liz Maguire,who went uninsured for the two years she attended graduate school at Hunter College. Her master’s program required that she attend school full-time and intern 21 hours a week. To make ends meet, she worked as a graduate research assistant. “I couldn’t work more than 10 hours a week,and that position only paid me $9 per hour,” Ms. Maguire, now a clinical social worker, said. Ms. Maguire relied on slidingscale health clinics. Along with other students, she participated in paid medical studies that provided physicals, comprehensive blood work and preventive care. If “Obamacare” survives repeal efforts by Republicans, students in 2014 who don’t qualify for Medicaid will have access to subsidies and several insurance options through the state’s health exchange. THE INSIDER by Andrew J. Hawkins and Shane Dixon Kavanaugh At NYU, a 33% rise in premiums T Teachers’ pets he United Federation of Teachers is already banking on life after Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Days before the mayor’s State of the City speech last January lambasting the union, the union funded four of the 2013 mayoral candidates, according to recently released data: former Comptroller Bill Thompson, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer and Comptroller John Liu (from left, above). Each donation, combined with earlier contributions, amounted to $4,950— the maximum candidates are allowed to accept. Predictably, all four tore into Mr. Bloomberg’s speech. (The UFT had already maxed out to City Council Speaker Christine Quinn in 2008, before the council voted to extend term limits.) All five Democrats running for mayor have aggressively courted the UFT, knowing the 200,000-member union will be indispensable to any candidate running to succeed member of the Senate.The scores were based on each member’s votes on a series of bills, including the state budget Mr. Diaz opposed because he said it would cut too many government services for his Bronx constituents.“I was elected to protect my community,” said Mr. Diaz, who scored 25%, while every Senate Republican was listed as 90%.The Business Council, he sniped, is more interested in “buying New York” than protecting it. Mandated purchase The increases reflect the surge in insurance costs employers have been feeling for years. Most students, of course, are not school employees.Yet because there are no state laws that say otherwise, schools are allowed to require proof of health insurance as a condition of enrollment, said Steven M. Bloom, director of government relations for the American Council on Education. That means students Discover 360° Service. Finding the right space means more than just location. Cassidy Turley’s tenant representation specialists will develop your ideal real estate strategy, no matter your size, scale or scope. Our experience, proprietary research and unique strategic approach give our experts a 360º view. Mr. Bloomberg. Union officials last week denied having any foreknowledge of the mayor’s remarks, and said the donations were timed to meet the Jan. 15 campaign finance filing deadline. The candidates all said the money did not influence their stances. Pols love Low Line Lower East Side’s Delancey Street into a green space the size of Gramercy Park continues to rack up key political endorsements. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Rep. Nydia Velázquez and state Sen. Dan Squadron have all come out swinging for the subterranean park that supporters are calling the Low Line. In September, Delancey Underground, the group behind the project, will unveil a full-scale model of the park in a Lower East Side warehouse. A proposal to transform an abandoned trolley terminal beneath the VIEWS BRANDING LEASE TERMS OWNERSHIP WIRING Discover Excellence in Tenant Representation. Discover Cassidy Turley. Peter Hennessy President, New York Tri-State Region 212.318.9790 Peter.Hennessy@cassidyturley.com www.cassidyturley.com Tenant Representation / Project Leasing / Project & Development Services / Property Management / Corporate Services / Capital Markets Department of Bad Timing The city’s bike-share program may be delayed almost a year due to a software glitch, but that didn’t stop advocacy group Transportation Alternatives from throwing a party for the postponed program. “Celebrate Citi Bike” was held Aug. 23 at Roulette in Brooklyn. “Join us for drinks, dancing and a celebration of the wonderful ways Citi Bike will change New York City when it launches,” the invite stated. The event was scheduled in July, long before Mayor Michael Bloomberg postponed the launch until March 2013. But the party went on, even without its guest of honor: No Citi bikes were available at the event, a spokesman for Transportation Alternatives said. buck ennis Ruben Diaz Sr.’s sense of honor State Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr. said he would wear his last-place ranking by the New York State Business Council as “a badge of honor.”The council’s annual voters’ guide named Mr. Diaz the least business-friendly For daily political and government news, subscribe to CRAIN’S INSIDER @ www.crainsnewyork.com/insider 6 | Crain’s New York Business | August 27, 2012 bloomberg news, newscom, buck ennis http://www.cassidyturley.com http://www.cassidyturley.com http://www.crainsnewyork.com/insider

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York - August 27, 2012

Crains New York - August 27, 2012
Contents
In the Boroughs
In the Markets
The Insider
Real Estate Deals
Business People
Corporate Ladder
Opinion
Greg David
Small Business
From Around the City
Stats and the City
Classifieds
Source Lunch
Out and About
Snaps

Crains New York - August 27, 2012