About 50 UC Berkeley students gathered at the intersection of Bancroft Way and Telegraph Avenue Tuesday afternoon to rally against restrictions on the UC Student Health Insurance Plan.
UAW Local 2865, the UC student workers’ union, organized the rally to call for the elimination of the lifetime maximum on the Student Health Insurance Plan, the reduction of the co-pays on the plan and for making health insurance free for dependents of students.
Charlie Eaton, a campus graduate student and the financial secretary for the union, said high co-pays add to students’ financial woes, while caps on coverage hinder students from receiving sufficient medical coverage.
“Many student workers are at risk of medical costs on top of regular student debt that is already crushing them,” Eaton said.
To align with President Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, SHIP will eliminate the lifetime maximum medical coverage cap beginning fall 2014.
After gathering on the intersection of Bancroft and Telegraph, the protesters marched to Clark Kerr Campus to demand a meeting with staff members at the campus Labor Relations Unit. Campus administrators agreed to a 30-minute meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 7, Eaton said.
