We are currently graduate students in the Department of Religion. As fellows and international students, our lives will be adversely affected by the upcoming changes in our health care. This unilateral move of the university evinces a disturbing disrespect for its agreement with fellows, and zero consideration for the well being of international students like us.

Our decision to attend Syracuse University was based on the comprehensive offer from the university, including the value of its financial package. The official letter from the dean of the graduate school to fellowship recipients, which contains an appointment agreement to be signed, indicates that the fellowship includes a competitive health benefits plan. While the benefits can be modified over the course of our fellowship, it never suggests the possibility of our current and dramatic decrease in benefits. Had we known that we would be switched to an upcoming “gold plan” offered by Aetna, whose coverage will be much worse than that of POMCO, we would likely have weighed Syracuse University’s offer differently.

As international students from families of modest income in developing countries, our livelihood in the U.S. depends on the agreed financial package offered by the university. A subpar insurance plan like Aetna will put us into precarious financial situations. Under this plan, if we are hospitalized, for instance, instead of paying a fixed copay under the previous plan, we will incur tremendous costs from a coinsurance payment. How are we expected to pay off the bill? One aspect of our agreement with the university — which we assume won’t be changed — is that we are not allowed to accept additional employment. In effect, we would have no way to offset potential medical bills outside of incurring debt, which could very well become a life-long debt given the income level in our home countries. Even if employment is permitted, we did not agree to study at SU so that we could take menial jobs and work to our bones to pay off hospital bills.

Even if our continued participation in the current employee benefits plan is illegal per IRS regulations, the university should provide us with a comprehensive package equivalent to the current employee health plan. That the university made a unilateral move to reduce our benefits, and then inform us months away from the change, has caused a tremendous sense of unease and distrust among the fellows and the international student body.

Fatima Siwaju religion graduate student 2016
Cong Wu religion graduate student 2016