August 31, 2009 WWW.UNEWS.COM Vol. 77, Issue 2 Health care McCaskill tackles legislation Will it affect you? health care Nikki Peters Contributing Writer Kelley Kates Staff Writer Health care legislation passed by the House of Representatives has created Rep. Claire McCaskill made a many questions needing answers and special appearance at Swinney Rec- myths that need to be dispelled. reation Center last Monday. The most important thing to remem- The senator held a town hall ber is the Senate has not yet passed the meeting to specifically address bill, and nothing is set in stone. rumors and issues about the new Words speak louder Many college students have either health care bill President Obama and completely ignored this coverage or do the Democratic Party are pushing to not understand how it will affect them. pass. In reality, it won’t affect many students McCaskill was welcomed by than actions — especially those who have student a standing ovation from a packed health coverage through the school or house at the UMKC auditorium. In- simply use the university’s clinic as troduced by Chancellor Leo Morton, their primary means of health care. brought in by the Student Govern- The services provided by Student ment Association and greeted by Health and Wellness won’t be affected constituents of the city she repre- at all by the legislation. The bill specifi- sented for 30 years, McCaskill said cally states that services priced and of- she felt right at home. fered separate from health insurance are “We are all here to participate not affected by the legislation. This will in the most grand and glorious de- also include most dental plans and dis- mocracy on earth,” she said after count prescription plans. everyone joined in the Pledge of Al- However, all health insurance plans legiance. are affected by the legislation as it is cur- With no speech prepared, Mc- rently written. That could mean some Caskill only answered questions changes in the way your health care plan previously written on slips of paper works if you have opted for the student and drawn from a bowl by members health insurance offered through Aetna. of the audience. You will also be affected if you have The first question came from employer-based insurance on your own Ron of Liberty, Mo. who wanted to Protestors let words or through a parent. know how many Americans current- speak louder than Basically, insurance plans would ly do not have health care. actions have to meet minimum benefit stan- McCaskill reported that 14,000 dards as laid out in the legislation to re- Americans are losing health care ev- main in effect. If they do not meet the ery month, mostly due to employers standards, they would be forced to alter dropping coverage. Right now the Photo ALEXIA STOUT-LANG their plans or drop them entirely for new number of Americans estimated to Protestors make their position on health care known outside Swinney Recreation Center. qualifying plans. Those currently on be without health insurance is be- health plans can be grandfathered in, tween 47 and 50 million. “I am here because I am highly motivated to which just means their plans don’t have A question asked by a 20-year- Alexia Stout-Lang News Editor counterweight the unreasonableness that I think to change right away. old college student reflected his ap- the whole health care issue has devolved into,” According to a current draft of the prehension with the bill. He wanted The signs did the talking for most of the pro- Drummond said. “And all that has to be done to bill, exempting pre-existing conditions to know, as a student, what is in the testors assembled at Rep. Claire McCaskill’s counterweight any amount of craziness is just to would no longer be allowed in most bill for him because he can barely town hall meeting about health care last Monday. be a responsible person.” cases. A good portion of the more than afford tuition let alone health insur- Peaceful, civil and friendly were words many Drummond said in the midst of all the argu- 1,000-page bill deals with trying to low- ance. used to describe the protestors who gathered ing, people are missing the point. er the costs of health care, which is also McCaskill said the bill allows for early outside of Swinney Recreation Center with “Everything is being portrayed as a problem addressed in these minimum standards. full-time students to stay on their signs written in bold colors representing many different issues and viewpoints. of distrust of the government,” he said, “but I be- So what does this mean for UMKC parents insurance until they are 26. students? She also suggested visiting the Web Bill Drummond, a local artist, stood with a sign reading, “Medicare for everyone.” Sandra Handley of UMKC Student site to view the Senate bill at www. See PROTEST I page 16 Health and Wellness said she is not fa- help.senate.gov to read the actual miliar enough with the legislation to legislation. provide an informed answer to that Many people voicing their con- question. However, she said the univer- cerns have issues with certain sec- sity follows the guidelines set forth by tions of the bill such as the “public the American College Health Associa- option” and the so-called “death tion (ACHA). panel.” An ACHA representative was not One audience member asked how available for comment. There is detailed this bill can pass without Republican information regarding the group’s posi- support and with rumors of a “death tion on health care reform on their Web panel.” McCaskill was quick to re- site at www.acha.org. The information assure her constituents that there is shows the association is dedicated to no death panel. She said the end of making the necessary changes to keep life counseling that they are pro- colleges and students covered. posing is not mandatory, but gives For students who are on their par- people near the end of their life the ents’ plans or are covered by employer- chance to have a doctor speak with based plans, different rules may apply. them about their options every five Check with your employer to discover years. She added that the point was whether your insurance plan will meet Photo ALEXIA STOUT-LANG See MCCASKILL I page 16 Town hall attendees who were not in favor of a public option raised their hands. See HEALTH CARE I page 16 INSIDE WELCOME WEEK page 7 STUDENT FEES page 2 LAMBDAPALOOZA page 10 2 News August 31, 2009 www.unews.com New student fee spurred questions Alexia Stout-Lang Association, have some concerns Tyler sent a letter to international national students on campus,” she agreed. News Editor about the fee. More than 300 other student leaders explaining that the said. “The sad realization is along “Hindsight told us that probably students, staff and faculty signed a fee was put in place so the univer- with the privilege of bringing them the better thing to do would prob- With more than 1,700 students petition last spring echoing those sity can stay in compliance with in, we have a responsibility to the ably have been to call in the leaders and an increasing number of gov- concerns. the many new federal regulations, U.S. government. And when they of the various international student ernment regulations put in place, “We were notified about it in a which required hiring a new staff say that you are going to do this, organizations and the leaderships last fall the International Student very casual manner in an e-mail,” member. we do it so we can continue invit- of the international student asso- Affairs Office realized they could Li said. “It doesn’t seem like that “There are a lot of regulations ing them in and continue advising ciations and have a face-to-face not keep up. big of a deal, but students are al- that Homeland Security and Immi- them so they can stay in status with conversation with them,” DeHae- “We looked at what the new un- ready paying a lot of money to go grations and Customs Enforcement the department of Homeland Secu- mers said. “So that was something funded mandates were requiring to school here.” have around students who come rity.” we missed.” for international student advisors, Li and Mutyala said they into the country,” said Jennifer De- International students were also basically the enrollment coordina- thought students should have been Haemers, assistant vice chancel- “Hindsight told us that concerned that the fee was not ap- tors who do that, and it quadrupled told in a more formal way. lor for Student Affairs. “And they probably the better thing proved by the Student Government the amount of work that two people They also wanted to know ex- place the responsibility for not only Association (SGA). were in charge of,” said Sandra actly how the money was going to issuing the documents to students to do would probably have DeHaemers said the SGA’s con- Gault, director of International be spent and how the university de- so they can actually come into the been to call in the leaders sent was not required. Student Affairs Office (ISAO). termined the amount. country – that’s the university’s of the various international “This was a fee that only needed After some research, it was de- They set up a meeting with Vice responsibility – but then the state the university president’s approv- termined that the addition of one Chancellor of Student Affairs Mel department actually provides the student organizations al,” she said.