Student Health Services: Still there, Still Needed, Still Yours…So Speak Up!
by Collette Sosnowy
In the wake of the hard-fought-and-won NYSHIP health insurance for student employees of CUNY and the (unrelated) creation of a new student position, the Health Education Coordinator, I’d like to review the role that The Wellness Center — Student Health Services (SHS) can and still plays in health care services for Graduate Center students. Obtaining basic health insurance for students working at CUNY was a major victory, however, as Renee McGarry and Jesse Goldstein pointed out in the previous issue of the Advocate, there are still many students not covered by NYSHIP or any insurance at all. This moved us closer to the larger goal of guaranteeing coverage for ALL Graduate Center students, but there are still gaps to be filled. This is where Student Health Services can step in.
At the risk of repeating information you may already know, here’s what SHS offers: the Nurse Practitioner, Adraenne Bowe, provides basic medical care, including routine physical exams; episodic treatment for acute health problems; gynecological pap smears; testicular exams; tests for pregnancy, HIV, STDs, and tuberculosis; immunizations (HPV, MMR, Hepatitis B, seasonal flu vaccine, and occasionally others), and she is able to write prescriptions. All of these services are free to students, thanks to the funding of the Doctoral Students Council. Lab tests are offered at a reduced cost and unand under-insured students are referred to free and low-cost clinics and providers whenever possible.
These services remain a vital resource for students with no or limited coverage. They also fill a gap in the NYSHIP policy, which doesn’t cover routine physical exams, except to reimburse $60 once every two years. A routine exam, the most basic of health care procedures, can prevent larger health issues from devel-
oping later on by screening for them regularly. Why NYSHIP will not to pay for basic care, yet be willing to pay for more expensive procedures, which might be prevented by early detection, is beyond me, but I don’t write the policies. Luckily, students can get routine physical exams for FREE at SHS. Students who are covered under other policies are still eligible for SHS services, and can avoid co-payments by getting basic services there.
Free vaccinations for students also close a cost gap in many insurance plans. Notably, the retail price for the HPV vaccine (brand name: Gardasil) is $125 per shot or $375 for the three-shot series, which is the required dose. Unfortunately, it is only FDA-approved for women under 26, which rules out a large part of our student population, but we have it and it’s a boon for those who can get it. Other vaccines generally cost around $50 each, making these a bargain as well. Unfortunately, the kind of vaccines SHS is able to offer is somewhat limited to the whims of the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. HPV is offered because it’s a relatively new vaccine and Merck, the pharmaceutical company that manufactures it, is heavily promoting it and apparently gives it to the city. Despite her efforts Ms. Bowe, hasn’t been able to get other basic vaccines for the clinic, such as tuberculosis and the combined Hepatitis A & B vaccine. “They [The DHMH] simply won’t give it to me,” she explained.
While my point is to encourage students to use the health services that YOU are paying for through your students fees, which are administered to the Wellness Center by the DSC, I encourage students to request even more services. The more you use the Student Health Services, and the more you make your voice heard about what health services you need and want, the more the Graduate Center administration will have to address students’ basic health rights.
Were all students covered by even basic insurance, the services provided by SHS would be less vital. In the meantime, however, they are crucial! Make the most of them and demand more!
Dr. Robert Hatcher, a clinical psychologist, has been hired as director of the Wellness Center. Starting later this fall, he will oversee both SHS and the Psychological Counseling and Adult Development Center, which up to this point, have been under the same umbrella (The Wellness Center) but which operated independently. With an incoming director, now is an excellent time to be loud and clear about what you need and want from the Wellness Center, rather than leaving it to the administration to guess or decide for you.
SHS and the Office of Student Affairs will be gathering data from the last few years about student use of the SHS and insurance coverage rates of GC students. Data collection in the past has been intermittent and mostly limited to head counts. For example, in 2003, from January to December, there were a total of 370 visits by male students and 750 visits by female students. The Fall semester months have generally been the peak months. All good to know, but it doesn’t give us much information. What services are students asking for? Why are there half as many men as women seeking care here? Is SHS being under-utilized? In answering these and other questions, we can assess the efficacy of what we do have and more effectively work towards getting more health services and greater insurance coverage.
The DSC would like to hear from you! Have you used Student Health Services? How satisfied were you with the care you received? What else is needed?
Visit the Health Issues Committee blog at http:// opencuny.org/health/ or Send your comments to dsc@cunydsc.org.
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