Some members of our campus community may not agree with the policy initiatives proposed by Neil S. MacInnes-Barker, President of the Undergraduate Student Government and Vice-Chairman of the State Student Advisory Council. Whether taking on the contentious but health-and-wellness driven position of supporting a tobacco-free campus, or by advocating for adequate, affordable and quality student health insurance, MacInnes-Barker is hard at work trying to improve the health outcomes of UMB students.
“At the end of the day, it is student’s health that is involved and this is what we are unified to protect and improve,” said MacInnes-Barker.
Among the problems currently being debated are inadequate health insurance benefits, high premiums, and mandated, often health-hindering referral processes. MacInnes-Barker is attempting to address the “high cost–high out of pocket expense and low coverage of service” currently weighing down students’ bank accounts. He added, “If the plans we have remain the same, it stands to logic that the same problems remain.”
MacInnes-Barker represents the voices of students who have repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with the current insurance plan. He has worked to oppose capitation as well as the referral processes, which have served to impair the health of students because of restrictive and hampering bureaucratic insurance policies. The aim is to lower high out-of-pocket expenses forced upon the students while improving the coverage of service.
One solution proposed is to have UMass Boston, Lowell and Dartmouth to form a conglomerate modeled after the State University consortium in hopes of challenging what MacInnes-Barker refers to as the “gatekeeper model” that has served to obstruct student health pursuits. It is likely that the pooled model will not manifest this time around. Yet, the groundwork for a future consortium has been initiated.
Speaking about his proposed solutions, he states, “We can do this, and we can do this best when we keep the health of our students in the forefront and not second place to an organizational challenge, convenience, or status quo.”
The obstacles are great, and only time will tell what the end result may be. Regardless of how things pan out, the bargaining process has created laudable bid proposals that will benefit and improve the quality of health care for all UMass campuses. Referring to state agencies and the UMass Institution as a whole, President MacInnes-Barker stated that the proposals presented on behalf of the students were heard “loud and clear” and will result in improvements to all aspects of coverage, including affordability.
Whatever the outcome, we can be assured that student health can not and should not be compromised. The students here are fortunate enough to have a Student President as an advocate, a voice of reform and commitment who is tirelessly working to improve student health insurance on behalf of the entire UMass community.