And what about health insurance?

On March 20th, President Shalala also announced that all contractors with the university must provide health insurance with low monthly premiums to encourage enrolment. The full details of the plan UNICCO will offer are not yet publicly available, so we know nothing about levels of deductibles, co-payments, coverage, etc. The monthly premiums have been announced. For a single employee, the rate is an affordable $13. However, for employee and spouse it is $266 and for employee and child $241. For family coverage, the premium is a staggering $493! For a worker making $8.50 per hour and working 40 hours per week, this would mean 36% of their total income. For someone making about $500,000 (as the Washington Post reports President Shalala’s salary to be around), this would be like paying around $15,000 per month for the premium.