Impact Bargaining Over Changes to Grad Health Insurance

OSU has decided to change graduate workers' health insurance from PacificSource to Cigna, starting Oct. 1st 2025. This decision was made without warning or input from grads. OSU has claimed that this change will not be detrimental to us; with equivalent coverage and no increase to co-pays or deductibles (although they admitted there may be some increase to payroll deductions for insurance due to across the board market rate increases). However, specific plan information and a summary of benefits will not be available until September 1st.

There are serious concerns about the quality of coverage we will get under Cigna. Cigna has faced lawsuits related to the use of AI to deny coverage, and many providers grad workers see for continued care may soon be out of network. The executive council of CGE has sent a demand to OSU to start impact bargaining over this issue. In impact bargaining, we can bargain with OSU about how the change is rolled out. This is one of the best ways that we can use our collective power right now to try and minimize the negative effects of this change. Unfortunately, we cannot prevent OSU from switching providers, but we can find other ways to hold OSU accountable in their assurances that this change will not hurt workers. Given the choice, OSU prioritized their bottom line over concerns about our health and safety. It is up to us to apply pressure to make sure we and our fellow workers get the care we need.

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