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Graduate student employees at Kansas public universities will lose health care subsidies starting next year, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported. The Kansas Board of Regents attributes the change to a recent notice from the Internal Revenue Service that providing subsidized health insurance to graduate students may violate the Affordable Care Act; in 2013 the IRS said that employer payment plans cannot be mixed with individual insurance coverage, meaning that employers can’t give employees money to purchase insurance on the individual market. Institutions may continue offering subsidies through this academic year, according to the IRS.
Graduate students in Kansas are worried about possible spikes in health care coverage costs when and if they have to start buying their own next year, according to the Capital-Journal. The University of Missouri announced that it was canceling health insurance subsidies for graduate student employees in 2015, for similar reasons. Graduate students protested the last-minute notice and the university eventually reversed its decision, pledging to continue offering students subsidies through this academic year. It's developing a plan for next year.
