The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Employee health costs set to rise A crowd of students, Ron Paul supporters and passersby gathered on the Diag last night to hear presidential candidate speak. PAUL From page lA reverse the economy's downwar trend by expanding economic fre dom and limiting inflation. "We are havingtrouble and th state is having trouble," Paul sai "We need to prohibit the printin of money and deal with the feder: reserve system." He said he wants to abolis the Internal Revenue Service an repeal the 16th Amendment - th one that allows the income tax. "The income tax is based on very evil notion," Paul said. "It based on the fact that the govern ment owns our lives." Paul said an obvious way t shrink the federal deficit is to en the war in Iraq. "Just think of all the money the we as Americans have had to pa for bombs to destroy a country he said. Paul was one ofthe six Republica members of Congress to vote again the resolution giving President Bus the authority to invade Iraq. Many supporters at the speec said they were attracted to Pas because they see him as an hone politician with a consistent trac record. LSA senior Adam Newville sai Paul was the only presidentis candidate that isn't pandering t crowds just to be elected. Insteac Newville said, Paul is speaking h mind. "He seems to just be a goo person," he said. "I just really lik his consistent voting through th years." Newville said he's a Democra and voted for John Kerry in 200' but thathe would probablyvote fo Paul in a general election. Unlike many other political events on campus, college-aged attendees made up the majority of the audience. d Paul said that younger voters e- have begun to make up his base - a theme echoed by Justin Zatkoff, is the chair of the Michigan Federa- d. tion of College Republicans. 1g "I think he has a lot of support al here in Ann Arbor," Zatkoff said in an interview before the speech. h "He appeals to the youth." d Before the speech began, a ie motley crew of supporters filled nearly the entire Diag. Some audi- a ence members circulated a peti- 's tion to legalize medical marijuana. n- Some carried signs like the "Back to the Future" parody sign that o read "Back to the Constitution: d Ron Paul." Others carried anti- war signs. Burly, long-haired men at sported Ron Paul T-shirts. So did a y small child in a wagon, whose shirt read "Ron Paul" on the front and "For my future" on the back. n But a few were simply looking to st cram for midterms. h "We were going to the library to study - and apparently Ron Paul is h giving a speech," said LSA fresh- ul man Andrew Smith, gesturing to st the Texas congressman standing k on the front steps of Harlan Hatch- er Graduate Library. Smith said he d "had no idea" that the event was al scheduled for last night. o Paul began his speech nearly an d, hour after its scheduled 7:30 start. is Music like The Beatles's "Rev- olution" and a reggae song fea- d turing a chorus of "Ron Paul is e here/Helping people everywhere" e entertained some, but when an event organizer announced that at Paul was still 15 minutes away at 4,. about 1 p.m., the crowd showered r the speaker with a chorus of boos and chants of "We want Ron." When Paul finally appeared, the crowd erupted. In his speech, Paul also criti- cized 'the federal government's restrictions on druguse. He said the government shouldn't have the authority to override state laws legalizing mar- ijuana for medical purposes. "I believe in freedom of choice, but that doesn't mean I endorse everything you do," Paul said. Paul sponsored the States' Right to Medical Marijuana Act, a bill that would give each state discre- tion to decriminalize marijuana for medical purposes. LSA sophomore Andrew Kent, the executive director of the Uni- versity chapter of Students for a Sensible Drug Policy, attended the event to get signatures on his peti- tion to legalize medical marijuana. "We don't have any position except on Ron Paul's (opposition to the) war on drugs," he said. Phil Palmeri, a resident of Red- ford, Mich., said he's voting for Paul. For Palmeri, who wrote in Ross Perot in the last two presidential elections, it was Paul's anti-inter- vention foreign policy that drew him to the candidate. "His approach to the U.S., espe- cially the Presidency, is to not take it upon itself to invade other coun- tries," he said. "We shouldn't be policing the world." Paul first ran for president in 1988 as the Libertarian Party's nominee. Many crowd members called themselves Libertarians. "I'm a Libertarian and I'll vote Republican if (Paul) is on the Republican ticket," Dearborn resi- dent Joe Lapham said. -Elaine Lafay contributed to this report. INSURANCE From page 1A vider Organization and Point of Service plans will have to pay more for equivalent care next year. Coverage for only an employee under the Premier Care plan will cost $17.88 per month, an 18 per- cent increase over the HMO plan this year. Coverage for an employ- ee, a spouse and children will cost $195.86 per month, a 22 percent increase. While the Premier Care plan will suit the needs of mostemploy- ees currently subscribed to the M- CARE HMO policy, many of the 2,100 PPO contract-holders and. 3,100 Point of Service contract- holders will want to pick a new insurance plan to fit their needs, said Laurita Thomas, the Univer- sity's associate vice president for human resources. Those who want to continue with a PPO plan can switch to the Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO, which will cost $85.04 per month for an employee and $385.29 per month if a spouse and children are also covered. Those plans will cost almost 30 percent more than their M-CARE equivalents did this year. But the cost of Blue Cross's own, existing PPO plan will only increase by between 1 and 9 per- cent from this year to next year. Thomas said the sale of M- CARE to the Blue Cross Network isn't responsible for the increase in the cost of insurance for Uni- versity employees, though. "Health care costs are rising," Thomas said. "It's a national issue - it's not just a local issue." Members of the Senate Advi- sory Committee on University Affairs, the University's main faculty representative body, told benefits managers at a meeting on Monday that they were con- cerned that University employees will now have fewer options when choosing insurance plans. The Point of Service policy, which combines elements of HMOs and PPOs to give employ- ees more options when selecting out-of-network healthcare pro- viders, will no longer be offered after this year. No new plan is being offered to replace it. The plan was too expensive for the Blue Cross Network to main- tain in light of a shrinking number of subscribers, Vashertold SACUA members. The number of employ- ees using the Point of Service plan has decreased by about 55 percent in the last several years, he said. Thomas said the Blue Cross PPO plan offers employees the same level of flexibility with their health care providers as the Point of Service plan. That plan will cost between 25 and 30 percent more than the Point of Service plan did this year, though. "They still have access to the physicians that they want to use," Thomas said. "It does cost us more to have that choice, and they will have to make that decision." The .switch from M-CARE to Blue Cross has forced many employees to find out whether their current doctors are covered under the new plan. In some cases, they aren't. SACUA Chair Charles Smith said he knows a pregnant woman who had to make arrangements with Blue Cross because her cho- sen obstetrician works for the St. Joseph Mercy Health System, which is not a member of the Blue Cross network. She is due to give birth in January, shortly after the new plan takes effect. While the woman's bills were going to be covered by M-CARE, her delivery wouldn't be cov- ered by the Premier Care plan unless she switched to a differ- ent obstetrician or switched to a PPO. Because employees can only change policies once per year, the extra $68 per month for a PPO policy would cost her about $800 over the course of the year. Some employees living in Tole- do and elsewhere out of state have complained that the new plan forces them to change physicians because the Blue Cross Network only has contracts with care pro- viders in Michigan. Thomas said the Blue Cross Network is reviewing similar cases and making exceptions on.a case-by-case basis for the transitional period. The woman can keep her obstetrician and the Toledo residents won't have to change physicians, Thomas said. "It is our intent to provitde superb customer service," Thom- as said. Wednesday, October 10, 2007 - 7A FLU From page 1A year of the study. Aiello said studying the virus in the close quarters of University residence halls could provide infor- mation about how seasonal flu and more lethal influenza strains like the avian flu could potentially be transmitted in heavily populated communities. "If it works with seasonal, it will work against avian," Monto said. Participants in FLU-VACS will bank $100 for donating three blood samples, and students in the M-FLU study will get $100 for donning a mask, $40 for being in the control group and an addi- tional $25 if they get their throats swabbed. The studies, funded by the Cen- ters for Disease Control, involve the School of Public Health, Univer- sity Health Service and University Housing. Although Aiello said the results from last year's M-FLU study are not yet available, he said the study was successful and they were able to recruit many participants. "The enthusiasm and excitement of the participants last year was a wonderful thing to see," Aiello said. Campus groups won't stop their campaigns PRIMARY From page 1A President. Radina said his organization will not change its approach to the campaignbut will instead hope for a compromise between the DNC and the state. The organization will, however, begin encouraging out-of-state students to register in their home states and vote via absentee ballot. "This is something we've been thinking about a lot, and we're definitely encouraging people to do it," Radina said. Radina has scheduled a meet- ing of the organization's executive board tomorrow to discuss plans to encourage the state to move the election date back. The DNC would then allow the candidates to run in Michigan's primary. "I think it will be better for stu- dents if all the candidates are on the ballot," Radina said. Unless Michigan moves its pri- mary back to a date in compliance with DNC rules or the state party holds its own nominating caucus after Feb. 5, the DNC says it will strip the state of its 156 conven- tion delegates. Florida - whose planned Jan. 29 primary also vio- lates DNC calendar rules - could lose its delegates as well. Florida has 210'delegates. The decision would remove 356 of the 4,360 total delegates to the Democratic National Convention. LSA sophomore Tom Duvall said his group, Students for Barack Obama won't change its tactics. "We're still going to keep going, exactly as we are, because we're confident that a compromise will come soon regarding the primary date," he said. Other student organizations were affected less directly by the withdrawals. "I'm a little disappointed (in the candidates). I think (remov- ing their names from the ballot) is an unnecessary move," said Kelly Bernero, co-chair of the University chapter of Students for Hillary. "But we're really happy that Hillary has decided to stay on the ballot. I think it sends a positive message to vot- ers in Michigan." Clinton's campaign issued a statement saying she would remain on the ballot because she has a different interpretation of DNC rules than the withdrawn candidates. - The Associated Press contributed to-this report. Channel 2 News interviews University of Michigan at Dearborn student Darius Peek during the panel discussion and watch party held on the University's Dearborn campus during the Republican presidential debate yesterday. GOPcandidates face o near 'Dearborn campus DEBATE From page 1A "Debates often gloss over that," she said. Khan was one of about 250 stu- dents who gathered in the center to watch the debate at a student watch party. Dearborn Political Science Asst. Prof. Trevor Thrall said he was surprised by the student turnout at the watch party. The crowd was made up mostly of students, many wearing T-shirts and carrying signs supporting Republican can- didate Ron Paul, a Texas congress- man. The candidates were split on trade agreements, somethingoften cited as a source of the American auto industry's woes. Republican candidates Mitt Romney and John McCain said increased international compe- tition should not be viewed as a threat but as an opportunity for growth. Candidates were quick to estab- lish their support for alternative energy sources. Romney said the fear of global warming is an opportunity to lead the world in technology. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee lik- ened the race for alternsative fuel to the race to the moon in the Cold War. The candidates took turns criti- cizing the war in Iraq, but they were hesitant to say the military action was unnecessary. California Congressman Dun- can Hunter said he supports pre- emptive military action, like that taken against Iraq. Paul rushed to disagree. He said the military shouldn't attack without an immi- nent threat. Paul didn't get as many chances to speak as some of the more main- stream candidates, but every time he did, the crowd in the University Center applauded. At the end of the debate, a faculty panel conducted a straw poll of the audience. Paul got 49 percent. Romney came in a dis- tant second with 13 percent. - Elizabeth Lai contributed to this report. GOT A NEWS TIP? E-mail news@michigandaily.com or call the newsroom at (734) 763-2459.