Members of the Student Health Insurance Advisory Committee discussed the future of Duke's health insurance at the Graduate and Professional School Council general body meeting Tuesday.
David Kahler, a third-year civil and environmental engineering student, led a discussion about potential health insurance options. Kahler, a member of the SHIAC, gauged student opinion on the existing options in preparation for an official proposal to be completed March 2008.
"It's important that all students have adequate health care so they can access it if they need it," he said.
Duke currently offers a coinsurance health policy, but Kahler said he is advocating for a move to a co-pay system that bills students according to individual medical need.
Switching from co-insurance to co-pay, however, may entail too many complications to make it feasible for Duke, Kahler said.
"We're not sure if it's impossible, but we're going to look at it," he said.
The SHIAC will also evaluate the policy for students who wish to opt out of Duke's health insurance.
SHIAC member Eric Vance, a sixth-year Ph.D. candidate in statistics, said students often avoid paying for Duke's insurance by falsifying information when asked to specify their outside carrier.
He added that because only 20 percent of graduate and professional students do not take Duke insurance, the changes to the waiver policy are directed primarily at undergraduates, 80 percent of whom choose private carriers.
Kahler said the SHIAC will have representatives speak at a Duke Student Government meeting to hear undergraduates' opinions on the topic of health insurance before submitting a health insurance proposal March 1. The proposal will be evaluated first by Bill Purdy, executive director of Student Health, and then by Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs, before a decision is announced March 21.
In other business:
Chris Day, an officer of the Duke University Police Department, spoke to GPSC members about safety on campus and the role of DUPD within Durham.
Day briefed students on topics such as how to guard valuables, how to defend against assailants and the importance of calling the police at the sight of suspicious behavior.
"People who steal this stuff, they know how to steal it," he said. "How many of you would pay a million dollars if your laptop with your thesis got stolen? Don't let that stuff be gone because you have a lapse."
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