SG pushes student health insurance
19 03 08 - 12:08
By Ana McKenzie
Student Government has been working for the past year to make purchasing health insurance as simple as buying a Longhorn All-Sports Package, Cactus Yearbook or "C" and "D" parking permits.
However, due to what SG executives called "poor advertising" during Tuesday's SG meeting, students do not know about insurance offered through the University.
"It's never been an optional fee, and our deal was to make it an optional fee so more people would sign up for it," said SG president Andrew Solomon. "It's going to be a little bit harder than we originally had thought it would be."
Solomon said the 25 percent of uninsured UT students could benefit from better advertising for the program and that even a simple pop-up message on the UTDirect Web site could do the trick.
"We want to tell them that the University does have a somewhat affordable plan," he said.
The program is available to currently enrolled University students who are not covered through other insurance programs, according to the University's Web site. International students are required to use this insurance while attending UT.
Solomon said his administration and the Student Services Budget Committee has done the leg work for advertising the program but that it would be up to the next administration to carry out their original intent.
Other business and SG resolutions were kept to a minimum during the meeting, a sign of Solomon's exiting administration. Plan II and communication studies senior Keshav Rajagopalan will formally take office as the next SG president on April 6.
"I think there are a few things left that we're excited to accomplish and finish, and I know that I'm leaving the organization in very good, very capable hands," Solomon said.
Solomon brought the command shift to the attention of members of the University's White Rose Society when they mentioned bringing a resolution to SG involving UT divesting from the Darfur region. The outgoing president said the society would have to bring forth the resolution by next Tuesday's meeting or wait for the administration to vote on the matter.
Solomon will head the final SG elections reform meeting Friday afternoon. The committee will compose a report highlighting five points, including a ticket and polling system reform. The report will be presented to SG for discussion at Tuesday's meeting