Monday, February 28, 2005
Hey hey, ho ho, these racist fees have got to go
I figure if I call the health fees racist, everyone will oppose them. And they're racist because... uh... dude, it's racism, it doesn't need to be justified.
So many places to start. Let's see what SHAC (the folks who are so generous about helping others that they'll force everyone else to do the same) has to say:
Wait, do you think I'm exaggerating? "As members of the student Health Fee Advisory Committee, we are willing to pay $43 a semester in order to protect and improve our access to health care in Berkeley. We hope that you will join us." How about asking, then? You know, like a voluntary donation of $43 a semester. Heck, since you like the idea so much, why don't you cover it yourself?
Anyway, let's check the math. Remember, the fees are $43 a semester, and $31 for the summer. That's $86 or $117 a year, depending on whether or not you stick around for summer.
Next, SHAC estimates the break-even point:
If you visit the Tang center 2.5 times or more per year, then you will "break even" with the Safeguard fee. The average Berkeley student visits Tang 2.5 times per year and could pay up to $35 per visit if the referendum fails. For this student, the Safeguard fee is budget-neutral.
Now, 2.5 visits at $35 a pop is $87.50. Sounds good, right? No, wait. That's only if we aren't around for summer. If we really want to compare this to the $86 a year cost, we'll have to subtract out all visits by students to the health center over the summer, so we probably won't have 2.5 visits anymore (of course, I'm not sure, since SHAC conveniently leaves this obvious detail out), and we'll be saving less than $86 a year.
But wait, there's more. Even if you accept 2.5 visits with no summer, the estimate of $35 a visit is the high estimate. Right from SHAC's site, you have, in the list of what could happen:
New visit fees (“co-payments”) of $20-35 per visit for every medical or Urgent Care visit to the Tang Center.
Oooh, well, so it may be quite a bit less than $35 a visit (maybe even $0). I guess that screws up the math even more, so that in the end, the average student isn't even close to breaking even.
Oh, and that even assumes that this fee won't be changing. Of course, it will be changing:
Each year, the independent student health advisory committee overseeing this fee may recommend changes in the allocation of fee revenues, to meet the evolving health needs of Berkeley students.
Evolving health needs, eh? Expect increases of around 5-7% every year. Oh, and don't forget. Once it goes up, it'll never go back down.
Most of the decisions about increasing the fees and how to use them come from a mystical independent student health advisory committee. Who'll be on this committee? Who do you think? Hell, the group currently pushing this proposal is called... wait for it... The Student Health Advisory Committee. Independent my ass.
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