Loyola University • New Orleans • Volume 97 • Issue 16 • January 25, 2019
THE MAROON FOR A GREATER LOYOLA
New SGA chiefof-staff hopes to take “behind-thescenes” approach By India Yarborough
students lose university medical coverage
ARIEL LANDRY/The Maroon.
By Cristian Orellana ceorella@my.loyno.edu @ceorellana8
Just weeks into a new semester, mass communication junior Christian Wilburn opened her email Jan. 14 to find, among spam and mass emails, a notification that she no longer had health insurance. Sixty-three other Loyola students read the same email. They all had received health care from a Loyola partnership with the Student Educational Benefit Trust and now lacked medical coverage, as the trust had filed for bankruptcy, according to the email from the university. Loyola started offering the health insurance plans last semester in hopes of providing college students with accessible medical coverage. For Wilburn, who is also a member of The Maroon staff, the news was not only sudden, but it left her scrambling to afford her daily medications. “My prescriptions are well over $300 if I don’t have insurance, and
I haven’t been able to get my prescriptions for a month,” Wilburn said. While students were notified of issues with their insurance on Jan. 14, Loyola was made aware of the trust’s bankruptcy in “late December,” according to Alicia Bourque, director of student affairs. Bourque said that the university then transferred students to another insurance carrier through Loyola's broker, Gallagher Benefits, soon after. “We were immediately signed on to another insurance carrier, and then we unexpectedly learned that carrier was not going to meet the needs of our students last Friday,” Bourque said. “Since then, we have worked tirelessly to figure out how to get our students access to acquire insurance.” Wilburn and other students said they were not notified of the change. Dylan Ritter, political science junior, said that the university should have notified affected students sooner that their medical coverage was in jeopardy.
“They gave no warnings that they were going under and didn't give us any time to find alternative insurance,” Ritter said. The university told the affected students that the loss of their insurance constitutes as a qualifying event that will allow them to enroll in the public exchange, which guarantees a student can obtain insurance regardless of pre-existing conditions effective Feb. 1. Students must enroll by Jan. 31 for their coverage to begin on Feb. 1. “Our insurance broker Gallagher Benefits has helped us get a new insurance plan as soon as possible,” Bourque said. “They are ready to help students walk through that process.” Students were urged in the email to contact Gallagher Benefits, who can assist them in getting a new policy. Additionally, The university also said Loyola representatives are available at the University Counseling Center to help.
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iayarbor@my.loyno.edu
The hole left in SGA’s cabinet after an unexpected resignation last semester has been filled, according to Sierra Ambrose, Student Government Association president. Ambrose has chosen Derrick Ransom, history sophomore, to serve as the chief-of-staff, following the Dec. 11 resignation of former Chief-ofStaff Fallon Chiasson. Ransom was appointed to the position Dec. 12. “He came on. We worked over break. And he’s pushing forward,” Ambrose said. “It’s almost like nothing has changed.” Ambrose said Ransom approached her before Chiasson resigned to ask how he might become more involved in student government. “He was still on a university standing committee,” Ambrose said. “Being that Joann (Cassama, SGA vice president,) and I interviewed Derrick before and we knew he was a great candidate — it was actually between him and Fallon that we were trying to decide — I decided to give him a call.” Ambrose said Chiasson and Ransom both applied for the chief-ofstaff position via OrgSync during the spring 2018 semester. “Derrick and Fallon were both strong applicants, and I do not regret appointing Fallon or Derrick to this position,” she added. Ransom said he is excited to continue his work with SGA and described the organization as one with the ability to impact a large number of people on Loyola’s campus. He noted that as chief-of-staff, though, he will take on more of a supporting role. “Of course, there’s a lot of involvement with some front-line things here and there, but the gist of it is more behind-the-scenes,” Ransom said. “It’s what people don’t see in terms of helping to keep everything on track and on pace. What I really desire to do is adapt to the members that are already on the cabinet.” Ambrose previously told The Maroon she and her cabinet failed to fulfill their diversity and inclusion initiative last semester. Ransom said he hopes to help change that outcome by engaging in more conversations with students in a variety of campus organizations. “SGA is for the campus. SGA is for the students,” he said. “That means we should at least know what the students want, what they think can change.” Ransom said he does not yet have specific plans in place for how he will tackle the duties of his position. For now, he intends to build stronger relationships with his fellow cabinet members and gauge what campus issues most need to be addressed. “I can make plans, but if I’m making plans around things that have already been addressed … then it’s not doing much,” he said. “I’d rather look at what is in front of me, and then start figuring out from there.” Ransom’s role as chief-of-staff is set to last until a new cabinet is sworn in later this semester.