Changes have been made to Syracuse University’s student health insurance plan as a committee continues to review the policy, Graduate Student Organization President Can Aslan said Wednesday at the group’s meeting.

While the meeting was short and smooth, Aslan made several important announcements about projects he has been working on. Seventeen members of the voting body came to the meeting, which included votes on funding two events.

Aslan said he has attended more than 50 meetings with the Student Health Insurance Advisory Committee. He said students came to the group with many grievances about SU’s healthcare policy, the first phase of which was rolled out by the university last year.

On Tuesday, the group voted to approve bettering the plan from “Gold” to “Platinum.” While Aslan could not explain all of the changes that will occur with this switch, he said the “Platinum” plan is better with a minimal increase in cost. SU is currently updating its Health Services website to better explain the changes.

One change Aslan did discuss was what percentage of hospitalization and other services the new plan would cover. Under the “Gold” plan, 80 percent of the cost of these services were covered by Aetna Student Health and students had to pay the other 20 percent. Now, the “Platinum” plan will cover 90 percent of the cost of these services.

Another policy Aslan said he is developing in partnership with Student Association leaders is one that would more clearly define the relationship SU has with the student governing bodies. Aslan said there have been issues in previous years about how much control SA and GSO had over their budgets versus how much oversight the university had.

This new policy, which Aslan said was only being discussed at this point, would give SA and GSO complete control over their budgets.

After Aslan ended his notes, the senators voted to approve funding for two events. The first was a $260 proposal for a spring talent show hosted by SU’s chapter of the Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music And Culture Amongst Youth.

The second was for the SU Program for Refugee Assistance (SUPRA). The group requested $900 to fund a tour of Syracuse’s north side for refugees to get familiar with where they live.

SUPRA put on the same tour last year, but only requested $250. The program needs extra funds because it expects more people to participate this year.

Recording Secretary Patrick Neary ended the meeting by detailing the findings of his audit of the Grant Committee. He said he found many flaws in the data from the previous months, which he had to correct.

He and the committee had to review grant applications that should have been decided on over a month or even a year earlier. They also found that some applications had been approved twice. In those cases, they kept with the higher funding amount that had been approved.

Published on March 23, 2016 at 11:18 pm

Contact Delaney: dovanwey@syr.edu