SIU strips insurance benefits for student dependents

CARBONDALE — Southern Illinois University graduate assistant Adam Turl faced a big surprise when they tried to register for student health insurance at the start of this semester.

Adam Turl and their spouse Tish Turl are no strangers to SIU. They both received their undergraduate degrees at the university. The 2026 spring and summer semesters, Tish and Adam received master’s and doctoral degrees, respectively.

Adam, Tish Turl

Both Adam and Tish Turl said while they love Carbondale and SIU, they feel betrayed — but not shocked — by this decision.

While completing those degrees, they’d both independently used the SIU student health insurance plan, but they had looked into using dependent coverage in the past. This semester, Adam started a new program, master’s of fine arts in creative writing, and Tish continued looking for jobs.

On Aug. 20, when trying to register for insurance for themself and Tish, Adam was told SIU health insurance no longer covers dependents.

Prior to this semester, SIU insurance included coverage for dependents, including spouses and children.

“The last time we tried to do this, I was told you could only get your partner on insurance the first week of classes. So we didn’t even try until [then],” Adam said. “[Dependent coverage] was the past practice for years, and so we had every reason to expect that to be the case.”

SIU insurance policy, change

All students taking on-campus courses are billed the student health insurance fee, though students who have health insurance elsewhere may waive the fee.

The SIU insurance policy especially affects graduate assistants, as older students who are also employed by the school to teach, grade, conduct research and/or other responsibilities.

SIU made the decision to remove dependent coverage in spring 2026 during the renewal process for the 2026-27 Student Health Insurance Plan, according to Don Howard, senior associate director of SIUC Student Health Services.

Don Howard

Don Howard, senior associate director of SIU Student Health Services

Masters and doctorate GAs in most programs make $1,649 and $1804 respectively per month during fall and spring semesters before taxes and student fees.

Most STEM departments have higher baseline wages, and those who receive summer appointments earn additional income. Thus, some GAs earn below, and some GAs earn slightly above, the federal poverty level of $15,650 in Illinois.

All students are charged $131.50 per credit per semester. Graduate students must take nine credits for full-time status, making their student fees $1,183.50. Added to these fees is student insurance, which costs $1,139 a semester, though GAs earn a $243 student health fee benefit. Thus, GAs on SIU insurance pay $2,079.50 per semester.

Some competitor schools in the state and region officer waivers that reduce fees to a fraction of the cost. For instance, GAs with nine credits at University of Illinois Champaign may qualify for waivers that amount to $146.25 (reduced from the $1125 premium) for insurance and $537.25 (reduced from $2,658) for total fees.

Without a plan change, the SIU student insurance fee was projected to increase approximately 9.85%, or about $112 per term and $224 annually, for all students enrolled in the plan, Howard said.

During the renewal process, the university reviewed plan options, costs, utilization data and projected impacts on students, according to Howard. Additionally, they consulted with relevant campus constituencies, including the Graduate Assistant Union, regarding the potential impact of proposed changes.

A representative with the GAU, who requested to remain anonymous due to safety concerns, confirmed this consultation took place in spring 2026, shortly after its local officers were elected.

After “evaluating available alternatives and their financial implications,” SIU decided to remove dependent coverage, Howard said.

UnitedHealthcare directly notified students with enrolled dependents on June 16, according to Howard.

That notification didn’t account for incoming students. Nor did it account for students whose circumstances changed due to a marriage or birth, for instance, within the last year. Those students “received information through the standard enrollment, waiver and website communications associated with the 2026-27 plan year,” Howard said.

Though students — including the Turls — only received that information at that time if they sought it out.

In advance of the July 15 opening of the 2026-27 waiver process, the Student Health Insurance website was updated July 13 with the following:

Beginning Aug. 15, 2026, the Student Health Insurance Plan will no longer include coverage for dependents. Students who are currently enrolled with dependents will need to secure separate health insurance coverage for their dependents through another option.

We encourage students with dependents to begin reviewing available coverage options as soon as possible to avoid any gap in coverage.

The representative who met with the administration said while she was aware the policy change was going to happen, she was “not aware the students were not aware.”

“My guess is that they try to hide [the decision] and not think about it, like an alcoholic not thinking about their liver,” Adam Turl said.

Fellow married student Zo Schmidt also assumed they would be able to cover their partner.

Zo

Zo Schmidt’s wife had just started to “get health issues taken care of” with diagnoses and reach next steps. But now, without insurance, they don’t have the means.

Last year, Schmidt worked full time while being a GA. This year, they decided to go part time and become ineligible for their job’s benefits — “fully with the assumption” their wife Harper Hampton would be covered at SIU.

“Conversations that we had would have been really different. Because I didn’t really get a notice about it,” Schmidt said. “It was sort of, ‘It won’t be the perfect insurance situation, but it’s something, and my wife is covered. Now, [Hampton’s] out of luck.”

“It’s easy for them to do this to us,” Tish Turl said. “Grad students do a lot of the heavy lifting in this university… So to have one more thing taken away by a university that is constantly harping on about what we can do to help it with retention — it was really insulting on top of just everything else.”

Adam Turl said they were “acutely aware” that the decision was made by administrators who make six figures, while this removal of coverage would cost them money they didn’t have.

“I don’t think [administrators] know what it means — they may have used to know what it means — to not know whether you’re going to pay for medicine, insurance, rent, food,” Adam Turl said. “This decision was cavalier, crass and frankly injured a lot and hurt a lot of people who make the university run.”

Jyotsna Kapur, a professor of cinema and media studies and cross-appointed with sociology, said she is in “disbelief” that this would happen to young professionals and their dependents.

“To suddenly take these health benefits for spouses, children and immediate dependents is literally drawing them to ill health, personal risk… and I just don’t understand how people can work under those kinds of circumstances,” she said. “I’m really, really appalled that a section of our campus is now exposed to this kind of danger.

She noted SIU’s R1 status is based on the number of graduate students at the university.

“I don’t know what the university was thinking about the future as an R1 institution when they agreed to this,” she said.

Howard said Student Health Services “remains committed to helping students understand available coverage options and connect with appropriate resources.”

Student Health Services has worked with Shawnee Health to provide assistance to students seeking information about alternative coverage options, according to Howard, and Shawnee Health Clinical Case Managers serve as certified Get Covered Illinois Navigators and can assist individuals in exploring programs and marketplace options for which they may be eligible.

Most international students, however, will not be eligible for the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace come Jan. 1.

Added strain on international students

Danielle, Stella and Nora — all using aliases due to safety concerns — are three among many international students who started on SIU insurance when they first arrived to Carbondale.

All three reported facing financial hardship, and they switched to the marketplace with the help of Bonnie Brackett of Brackett Insurance Consultants.

Bonnie Brackett

Bonnie Brackett

Marketplace requires an annual household income at or above the federal poverty level. Brackett reported 386 students, mostly international, were unable to obtain subsidized marketplace coverage in 2026 due to earning too little money to qualify. Some students who earn below the poverty threshold, mostly domestic students, qualify for Medicaid and can opt out of SIU insurance. But most international students do not get that option, as Medicaid requires five years of living in the U.S. and a green card.

And come Jan. 1, 2027, with the Big Beautiful Bill taking effect, marketplace rules are aligning with Medicaid rules, which means not only can international students below the poverty threshold not access Medicaid, but the 233 students who enrolled in marketplace with Brackett Consultants for 2026 will not qualify in 2027.

While 22 student dependents used the insurance in the 2025-2026 school year, according to Howard, the number of students with dependents on SIU insurance will exponentially increase 2027 because international students have no other options.

“The only reason [international students] use marketplace is because SIU’s coverage is unaffordable to them,” Brackett said, so the SIU and federal changes are “a double hit.”

Danielle said even on marketplace, she still frequents different food pantries. She expressed stress about how she will be able to afford SIU insurance in 2027 on her salary.

“The university takes a lot of pride in us. In February [for SIU’s International Festival], they’re going to be outside taking pictures of us in our traditional dresses… dancing with our music, eating our food,” Danielle said. “They only remember us when they need us for the pictures, when they need us to look pretty for the pictures and smile for them and be a kind of entertainment.”

When Stella used SIU insurance last year, she had “no money left” after paying her SIU her student fees, campus housing and insurance. She said she could not afford food her first two months here.

Eventually, she resorted to donating plasma for extra cash, and she fainted during the donation.

“It was such a traumatizing experience. But I was so desperate for money at that time that I still ended up donating twice,” she said.

After switching to marketplace, she felt financial relief.

“I had a bit more money, and I feel like saving that money was a big blessing in some way,” she said. “I feel it’s very difficult for people like me, even though I do not have dependents.”

Some international students — like Nora and her husband, both GAs— do have dependents: a daughter and Nora’s mother.

Nora’s mother has a green card, but has no insurance because she does not qualify for marketplace or Medicaid, as she’s not lived in the US for five years.

When Nora was on SIU insurance, money was tight, she said. She gave an example that her daughter wanted to ride on a VEO scooter like other high schoolers, and she could only give her $2 for six minutes of riding.

“She couldn’t even experience such a very simple, cheap, entertaining stuff in Carbondale,” she said. “Those days, it was so hard for us.”

Nora felt a “big relief” when she found out she had to pay “like less than $10” for her whole family on marketplace.

When Brackett found out about the Big Beautiful Bill’s coverage change, she emailed international students on marketplace.

“It was like 8 a.m. and I saw her email. I was about to get ready and come to school like every single day, and… I couldn’t even stand up from my bed,” Nora said. “I told my husband, ‘It’s just another thing we need to take care of.’ ”

Nora, Stella and Danielle, as well as 230 other students, did earn above the federal poverty level and enroll in marketplace in 2026. And at least 44 of them have already cancelled their marketplace coverage, according to Brackett, because of a federal amendment realized Sept. 18.

The federal government amended their rules to include a public charge, which is what the government deems a person’s viability as a resident. That involves the government looking at if the individual has a job and whether they have used public benefits like SNAP. And now, the government is saying they may look at marketplace coverage and Medicaid coverage, Brackett explained.

“We’ve had 44 say, ‘I’ve got to cancel my marketplace coverage because I can’t risk not being able to get a green card,’ ” Brackett said. “And that to me is just so sad. These people are here getting an education. They want to stay here. They want to be productive, and this roadblock is being set up.”

Brackett noted that there are safety nets. Children of international students still have access to Illinois Medicaid, and all non-citizens still have some emergency coverage.

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