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STANFORD, Calif. ?? Stanford University, one of the nation's wealthiest private institutions, is canceling its HMO contract to cut costs and has advised students with families to consider going on welfare to get health insurance for their dependents.
About 250 undergraduates and graduate students must find new coverage for their 400 dependents as of Sept. 1. Stanford is considering new plans and estimates premiums will rise as much as 60 percent for dependents and 10 percent for students. The bill for a family of three could rise from $353 to $527 a month.
Health Service Director Ira Friedman said he understands students' anxiety, and the university is working on a solution, to be announced as early as Wednesday.
A letter sent to undergraduates and graduate students from Stanford's student health service last month advised students who can't afford private insurance to consider public assistance for their spouses and children. It was accompanied by a flier promoting a public assistance plan for low- and middle-income families.
Stanford officials said they were merely advising students of all their options. After all, an average graduate stipend at Stanford is about $15,000 to $20,000 a year ? which is just above the federal poverty level for a family of three.
"We do recognize the increase is close to astronomical," said Julie Lythcott-Haims, assistant to Stanford President John Hennessy.
Some students said Stanford should consider dipping into its $8.6 billion endowment ? which ranks fourth in the nation after Harvard, Yale and the University of Texas ? to make up the difference.
"I think it's appalling where Stanford would allow it to get to the point where it asks its students to go look for public assistance. I would hope they would become extremely embarrassed," said Jeffrey Martin, an engineering doctoral student with a wife, who's also a Stanford student, and five children.
STANFORD, Calif. ?? Stanford University, one of the nation's wealthiest private institutions, is canceling its HMO contract to cut costs and has advised students with families to consider going on welfare to get health insurance for their dependents.
About 250 undergraduates and graduate students must find new coverage for their 400 dependents as of Sept. 1. Stanford is considering new plans and estimates premiums will rise as much as 60 percent for dependents and 10 percent for students. The bill for a family of three could rise from $353 to $527 a month.
Health Service Director Ira Friedman said he understands students' anxiety, and the university is working on a solution, to be announced as early as Wednesday.
A letter sent to undergraduates and graduate students from Stanford's student health service last month advised students who can't afford private insurance to consider public assistance for their spouses and children. It was accompanied by a flier promoting a public assistance plan for low- and middle-income families.
Stanford officials said they were merely advising students of all their options. After all, an average graduate stipend at Stanford is about $15,000 to $20,000 a year ? which is just above the federal poverty level for a family of three.
"We do recognize the increase is close to astronomical," said Julie Lythcott-Haims, assistant to Stanford President John Hennessy.
Some students said Stanford should consider dipping into its $8.6 billion endowment ? which ranks fourth in the nation after Harvard, Yale and the University of Texas ? to make up the difference.
"I think it's appalling where Stanford would allow it to get to the point where it asks its students to go look for public assistance. I would hope they would become extremely embarrassed," said Jeffrey Martin, an engineering doctoral student with a wife, who's also a Stanford student, and five children.