All Tulane graduate workers are required to have health insurance. The plan provided by the university, called T-SHIP, covers basic medical expenses (no vision or dental) and costs $2,820 per person per year. Some programs subsidize this cost for students, but dependents are not covered. These costs, combined with co-pays for medications and appointments or treatments, present a significant financial burden as most graduate stipends are between $20,000-$25,000 per year (see testimonials). Solidarity Tulane fights for fully subsidized health care for all graduate workers. Eliminating these costs will alleviate financial stress faced by graduate workers, increase access to care, and generally improve the health and well-being of the Tulane graduate student worker body. 

Despite neglect and resistance from the administration, Solidarity Tulane fights to make access to health care a basic right for all graduate workers. Our campaign so far has included press articles, meetings with various members of the administration, and a petition signed by over 500 Tulane graduate workers. Solidarity Tulane’s work has led to important victories such as Tulane’s removal of the ridiculous installment fee for those unable to pay the entire TSHIP insurance premium cost at the beginning of the semester. We also successfully campaigned for the removal of the $320/semester health center fee for nearly all graduate workers on Tulane’s campus. Unfortunately, the university administration chose to exclude select populations from the fee removal and so we fight on. We continue to organize for better healthcare access for Tulane graduate student workers across all campuses. Next up, full subsidized T-SHIP for all Tulane graduate workers.