DAILY LOBO new mexico
Fortune cookies sold seperately see page 10
August 29, 2011
The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
Staff health care costs on the rise by Lorena Saenz
lorenalicia@gmail.com In July, UNM’s Division of Human Resources issued a sudden change to the staff health care plan, requiring members to pay hefty out-of-pocket charges. UNM employee Tom Rolland said the changes will move UNM’s health care to a “consumerism model,” which is really just a cost-shifting measure. “To do this they have added in coinsurance, this is on top of co-pays,” he said. “It’s a new way to get more money out of the people who actually get sick or injured.” He said HR increased the outof-pocket maximums from $1,250 to $1,750 for individuals and from $3,250 to $4,750 for families. UNM staff member Ann Rickard said staff was not informed of the change. “The maddening thing about this change was that it was instituted without warning,” she said. Staff must now pay the deductible fee plus 15 percent of the co-insurance toward the remaining balance, according to a statement issued by the Division of Human Resources. Coinsurance is the percentage the insured party must pay after the insurance policy’s deductible is
exceeded up to the policy’s limit. For example, if an MRI procedure costs $2,000, the deductible is $200 plus an additional 15 percent of the remaining $1800, which is $270, totaling $470 under the consumerism model. Coverage under the new model includes services such as outpatient procedures, inpatient hospitalization, nuclear medicine, MRI, CT and PET scans. “What does this mean in reality?” Rolland said. “If a family member is seriously sick and gets a medical bill for, say, $40,000, then instead of paying $250 like it was a year ago, now you will be getting a bill for $4,750 that you will have to pay (to) UNMH, a friend of mine had his child get an appendectomy and the hospital stay was only one day. The total bill was almost $40,000.” In comparison to the Bernalillo County Employee Sponsored Group Benefits booklet, state and city workers now have one comprehensive health care plan through Presbyterian. This fiscal year, Bernalillo County employees are seeing a 5.6 percent decrease in the premium costs. UNM Human Resouces Employee Benefits Specialist Sheri Wharton declined to comment or give reasons for the recent changes made to UNM staff employee health care benefits.
DRESSED UP IN SMOKE
monday
A STAR’S KICKSTART
Dylan Smith / Daily Lobo Lobo players celebrate around sophmore Giovanni Rollie Friday at University Stadium. UNM beat Towson 2-0 thanks to a goal from Rollie, the first of his career. See page 12 for full story.
Mock trial no laughing matter by Lorena Saenz saenzl@unm.edu
UNM has its first competitive undergraduate mock trial team thanks to two comparative politics students. In last winter’s comparative politics intercession class, senior Hannah Russell and junior Terri Harwood hatched the idea of a mock trial team, which recently registered with the American Mock Trial Association to begin regional competition by February 2012. “Terri essentially brought it up to me, and I loved the idea, since I hadn’t heard of any mock trial teams on campus,” Russel said. “We talked about the fact that UNM had a quite successful
speech and debate team a few years back, but that it had died off.” Russel and Harwood found an existing mock trial club at UNM, but it is not competitive. They said the purpose of their team is to create a competitive forum to prepare students for law school and law practice. After realizing their similar motivations, Russell and Harwood chartered their mock trial team and acquired funding from ASUNM. Political science professor Michael Rocca sponsors the team, and lawyer Cindy Aragon coaches them. Russel and Harwood said the team currently has 10 members, but hopes to gain more. Harwood said she hopes to send two teams to the American
Mock Trial Association Regional Tournament in February, which is the qualifying tournament for the national competition, which takes place in March. “Hannah and I are both really excited about this team, and we feel really confident about qualifying for nationals,” Harwood said. “Cindy Aragon is a wonderful lawyer a great person, and she will be a very helpful and reliable coach for us with lots of connections in this profession.” The team’s first meeting takes place Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Satellite Coffee in the SUB. “Through mock trial I hope to fine-tune my public speaking skills and hopefully get to the point where it doesn’t bother me at all to speak in public,” Russell said.
UNM intent on faster internet by Charlie Shipley news@dailylobo.com
Zach Gould / Daily Lobo Paula Bauman poses for a photo during the Bubonicon costume contest last Saturday. Bauman’s costume is steampunk-themed and entirely handcrafted. She was one of about 30 contestants in the costume contest.
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 116
issue 7
UNM joined 29 universities and colleges across the country taking part in Gig.U, a high-speed online infrastructure program designed to create network speeds several hundred times faster than current capabilities permit. The project’s goal is to attract new technology-driven companies in high-tech industries such as engineering, physics, health care, computer science and mass
Amateur shooting
The game’s beat
See page 2
See page 9
media to UNM and other participating universities by creating a community fostered by an advanced infrastructure. “Our invitation to participate came by way of our work to extend regional and local network to the students, faculty and staff in the state of New Mexico — particularly our work in Albuquerque, on the Navajo Nation and Zuni Pueblo” IT spokeswoman Vanessa Baca said. Baca said the University is working to provide Internet
access to reservations across the state as well as improve network capabilities on main campus. She said the 29 schools have already combined and streamlined their high-speed networks, bringing together their respective campus communities and more rural communities. She said the network chain allows faster access, which they hope will lead to increased research and technological advancements and increased opportunities for
see Gig.U PAGE 5
TODAY
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