the students expanded on the
reasons that might be.
“With the Affordable Care
Act and the Healthy Michigan
Plan, the number of uninsured
patients in Michigan dropped
significantly, but they found that
they were still left with a steady
flow of patients into the clinic for
the uninsured,” Williams said.
“They had a suspicion that there
were reasons why some of those
patients could be insured but
were not and thought it was just
time to ask them.”
Williams helped the Medical
School
students
with
their
research. He said the students
found many of their patients were
unaware of how exactly the ACA
could make health insurance an
affordable option for them.
“Some patients weren’t aware
of how the tax credits worked,”
he said. “You can sign up if your
income is above a certain level
and still be eligible for tax credits
and those come back at tax
time. But calculating the actual
effect on your annual budget is
difficult.”
Based
on
this
finding,
Williams said students realized
there are opportunities to help
patients by providing guidance
for calculating the impact of the
ACA on their budgets.
Second-year Medical School
student Brian Desmond is one
of the students who works in
the clinic and conducted the
research. He said another reason
people are not insured is that
they don’t always know how to
sign up for the insurance they
qualify for.
“Most
people
know
the
Affordable Care Act happened
and
changed
insurance
coverage,” Desmond said. “Not
as many people seem to know the
details of how that affects them
individually.”
As a result of these findings,
the students thought it was
necessary to provide insurance
counseling as a feature of their
free clinic. The government
provides some of this training
under the ACA. Desmond said a
group of six students completed
the
training
to
provide
counseling to patients.
“Essentially, our findings were
strong enough that we thought
our patients could benefit from
one-on-one
counseling
about
their insurance options,” he said.
Desmond said the students
will mostly help patients with
navigating
theHealthCare.gov
marketplace, as well as sign up
for Medicaid.
Though the task of educating
and providing all patients with
insurance may seem easy for
some people, Williams said, the
prospect of a monthly payment
and large deductibles can be
daunting when coupled with an
unstable income. Many patients,
he said, have only intermittent
work.
“So even though in a given
year
they
might
technically
make enough to qualify for
a
tax
subsidy,
they’re
less
certain
that
the
next
year
they’re going to make the same
amount,” Williams said. “The
unpredictability of it makes them
hesitant to commit to something
that has a monthly payment and
a big copay.”
However,
Williams
said
having
insurance
under
the
ACA could allow patients to save
money in the long term. Under the
ACA, insurance companies are
required to cover preventative
tests such as mammograms,
which
could
prevent
health
issues down the road.
Williams listed three main
problems that come from lack
of insurance. The first is that
if patients need to go to the
emergency room, they have to pay
the bill themselves. The second
implication is that it’s harder to
get care for chronic illnesses,
including
hypertension
and
diabetes, that, if untreated, can
have more devastating impacts
in the long run. The third issue is
the lack of preventative care.
“We see patients all the
time who just need the basic
preventative
care
but
can’t
get it because they don’t have
insurance,” he said.
Desmond agreed that health
insurance is key for providing
the best patient care and said
though the free clinic will
probably always be necessary,
he hopes their research and
current counseling services can
help people achieve optimal
insurance coverage.
“If you look at studies about
health insurance, really it’s
in people’s best interest to
get health insurance and be a
part of the formal healthcare
network,” he said. “Our goal is
to get as many people affordable
health insurance so that they
can see someone else and not
rely on us.”
between students during the
latter portion.
“Many of us have watched
and wondered at the situation
in Missouri … and I was sure
people would want to talk about
this,” McCoy said. “The question
is how can we replicate some of
these events?”
McCoy
noted
that
the
resignations of the Missouri
system’s
president
and
the
chancellor of the flagship campus
were caused by deep-seated
tension between students and the
administration. Student protest,
which came to a head after
the university’s football team
refused to play until the president
stepped down, stemmed from
what many saw as the school’s
failure to address several racist
incidents on campus.
“Consider
institutional
failure,”
McCoy
said.
“Administrations are often either
oblivious or flat-out resistant to
what students are demanding.”
The lecture also sought to place
current events in the context of
local campaigns — particularly,
last year’s U.S. Supreme Court
decision to uphold Michigan’s
affirmative action ban and the
#BBUM
movement,
which
organized on campus in 2013 to
provide a voice to the experience
on campus for Black students.
The demands of Black student
groups at the University, McCoy
said, have remained largely the
same since their founding in the
civil rights movement.
“Both
external
forces
…
and local grievances sparked
#BBUM,” McCoy said. “But there
have been consistent demands,
(like)
increasing
the
Black
enrollment to 10 percent of the
student body.”
The
following
discussion
on diversity and treatment of
minority students was especially
relevant
following
Tuesday’s
campuswide diversity summit,
a week-long effort to encourage
campus diversity and inclusion
hosted by Univesity President
Mark Schlissel. Many chafed
at the portrayal of diversity
on campus, and commented
specifically on the summit.
LSA
sophomore
Stephen
Wallace
expressed
disappointment
with
administration’s
response
to
student demands.
“Some people really think
Michigan is diverse,” he said.
“Like, ‘Two Black people in
my class is so diverse.’ And
numbers are important, but so is
experience. It felt like Schlissel
didn’t understand that.”
“The
percentage
of
Black
students on (recruiting) flyers
is so much higher than the
percentage
actually
at
the
University.”
Engineering
sophomore
Raymond
Smith-
Byrd added. “It makes me feel
like I don’t want your flyers.”
Students also discussed the
relationship between free speech
and racial sensitivity on campus.
LSA junior Vesal Stoakley
commented
on
the
recent
controversy at Yale University
regarding
free
speech
and
culturally considerate costumes.
In advance of Halloween, the
university
released
guidance
encouraging students to avoid
wearing
“culturally
unaware
or
insensitive
costumes.”
A
response letter from a Yale
faculty member saying students
should be able to wear whatever
they want later sparked outrage
from many students.
“We have to keep a campus
climate
that
is
welcoming,”
Stoakley said. “But there has to
be a balance, where we’re not
infringing on free speech, but
we’re also considering the other
side.”
LSA
freshman
Schaefer
Thelen said creating safe spaces
on campus takes precedence over
potentially offensive free speech.
“Arguing for free speech for
the sake of offending others
doesn’t
make
much
sense,”
Thelen said.
McCoy concluded the teach-
in by emphasizing that dialogue
is the first step to any effective
change on campus.
“I
think
if
students
pay
attention to Missouri and the
shortcomings at this University, I
think something will come out of
it,” he said. “It has to.”
3-News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Thursday, November 12, 2015 — 3A
TEACH-IN
From Page 1A
ACA
From Page 1A
the
president’s
resignation.
Members
of
the
Missouri
football team said they would not
engage in any football-related
activities until the president
stepped down.
On the Diag on Wednesday
evening, organizers read various
posts on social media that
followed Wolfe and Loftin’s
announcement,
including
one from a Yik Yak user who
posted they would shoot any
Black students on the Missouri
campus. There were also reports
of unlicensed vehicles circling
Black students in parking lots at
Mizzou.
Cortes said she was outraged
at the University of Missouri’s
lack of response to threats
toward Black students on the
campus.
“Black
students
at
the
University of Missouri have
continuously
experienced
racism
and
discrimination
on campus, as many other
institutions of higher education
have, ” she said. “As stated by a
Missouri student, the University
of Missouri administration has
continued to overshadow the
racism and violence toward
students of color with well
written
PR
statements
and
movements and initiatives that
never tackle the issue.”
She added that she was
disappointed
that
professors
at the University’s School of
Social Work weren’t providing
a
platform
for
students
to
discuss issues brought to light by
demonstrations in Missouri. The
University is currently in the
midst of aweek-long diversity
summit
intended
to
garner
input from the community as
administrators craft a campus-
wide strategic plan to improve
equity and inclusion on campus.
Social Work student Khalid
Bowens echoed Cortes’ remarks,
saying he has noticed a lack of
response from some University
faculty members.
“I’m tired of teachers sitting
in my classrooms telling me that
things that are going on within
Black America does not matter
in this classroom because yes the
fuck it does.” he said. “Because
I’m in this classroom, this is my
life and this is what I have to go
through.”
Engineering and LSA senior
Will Royster, a Central Student
Government
presidential
candidate for the 2015-2016
academic year, said both the
Black
Student
Union
and
members of By Any Means
Necessary
have
coordinated
similar efforts in past years, but
demonstrations at the University
of Missouri show more effective
ways to get University officials
to respond to concerns raised by
Black students.
In Missouri, the threat of
football players striking could
have impacted revenue from
cancelled games. If the team
missed its Saturday game against
Brigham
Young
University,
Missouri would have lost $1
million due to an agreement
signed by both schools last year.
“With this Missouri incident,
we
saw
the
solution,”
he
said. “We talk Black politics,
but everybody talks money;
everybody talks green dollars.”
He also said that Blacks
students should build coalitions
with other multiethnic students.
“Multiethnic people, y’all go
through some of the same shit
we go through,” he said. “We
need to build coalitions. We need
to support each other. This shit
is intersectional all day.”
Several other demonstrators
offered
remarks
during
the
event,
drawing
on
personal
experiences
of
racism
and
navigating
a
predominately
white campus as a student of
color. One student quoted Martin
Luther King Jr., and called
on those in the community to
remain active in times of moral
crisis.
Another
attendee
on
the
Diag said users replied to a
video of the demonstration she
posted on Twitter comparing
demonstrators to “chimpanzee’s
mating” and something they
“saw on Discovery Channel.”
“This is what people look at
us today as: animals,” she said.
“They don’t see the injustice in
this world, they don’t open their
eyes to see what’s really going
on.”
LSA freshman Jason Young
said in his remarks that he felt
devalued and unappreciated at
the University.
“My presence is not desired
here,” he said. “But what does
this ‘M’ mean? If this a symbol
of hatred and it’s saying that I’m
not welcome here, what does
it mean? It hurts me to think
that I came to this college to be
accepted and to just learn and
instead, I’m seen as this oddity.”
Bowens
echoed
Young’s
remarks, and said he’s tired of
being treated as the token Black
student in his classes.
“I’m tired of sitting in a
classroom with Black students
who look at me like I’m supposed
to educate them,” he said. “Don’t
look at me as your token Black
student to tell you about the
Black experience because we all
have Black experiences. Look at
all these Black faces here tonight
and I can tell you we all live
different lives.”
Some
students
connected
events at the University of
Missouri to the 2014 killings of
unarmed Black men in Ferguson,
Mo., and Staten Island, N.Y. In
his remarks, LSA sophomore
Theo Nobles, recounted his
experience his freshman year
and feelings of shock when these
events broke.
“I was in my dorm room at
Mary Markley Hall with my
roommate, and we just sat
and looked at each other and
thought, this is the world we live
in,” he said. “A man can get killed
in cold blood and his murderer
can just walk away.”
Nobles said being a Black
man at a predominantly white
institution has caused him to
be looked down upon by peers.
It was understood, Nobles said,
that as a Black man, he would be
treated differently.
“From the get-go, you are
looked at as beneath,” he said.
“From the get-go, you are looked
at as a future criminal, a future
statistic. I get asked why I
decided to go to a predominantly
white
institution,
not
a
historically Black college, every
day. I’m sure people at Missouri
that look like me get asked the
same thing.”
Upon request for interview,
some
white
demonstrators
declined to comment for the
purpose of elevating the Black
perspective on the issue. White
demonstrators
also
allowed
Black community members to
stand at the front the group
during the march to the Diag.
In an interview with The
Michigan Daily after the event,
LSA junior Julia Wang, who
attended the demonstration, said
she believes giving minorities a
platform to express themselves
is an integral part of the process
toward change.
“It’s a really important event
to come to as someone who falls
into the minority category but
may not always feel the effects of
it as an Asian woman,” she said.
“I think really important that
that platform is available and we
let those people speak and hear
the other side.”
She also said she was shocked
that issues affecting the Black
community on campus are often
not discussed.
“Every time I come, hearing
people’s voices and hearing their
stories about how they’re treated
makes me shocked,” she said. “It
makes me feel very lucky, but in
the worst way possible. No one
deserves to feel that way, no one
deserves to be treated that way,
and it’s horrifying that this is the
only way I hear about it.”
A
community
prayer
for
the
University
of
Missouri
is
scheduled
to
take
place
Thursday night on the Diag.
MIZZOU
From Page 1A
said. “The University doesn’t
really encourage giving us time
off to celebrate it, so people are
busy or it gets overshadowed,
amongst other things.”
The holiday is often celebrated
by lighting lamps around the
house and receiving blessings
from elders. Like many holidays,
food is also a key part of the
celebration.
Shah said hosting a celebration
like Diwali at the University is an
important way of reflecting the
campus’ diverse community.
“It is often found that we are
not well represented in many
ways, and in order to show
how are lives are more similar
than different it’s important
that we share our celebrations
with a community that may not
necessarily know what Diwali
is all about,” she said. “It’s
important to allay any fears
or misrepresentations of the
festival as well.”
Kadhiresan said this is the
first Diwali she is spending
without connecting with her
family in some way.
“I was actually talking to
my mom this morning and she
was really missing us,” she said.
“It’s the first year we’re not
completely together. I really
wish I could be with my family
at this time because it’s the same
thing as other people being with
their families for Christmas or
for Ramadan. It would be nice to
be able to go home and see them.”
While
she
understands
that
the
University
cannot
accommodate
every
religious
holiday with time off, Kadhiresan
said
the
University
should
acknowledge the large Indian
Hindu population on campus.
“It’s
actually
kind
of
disappointing,” she said. “But I
think it’s kind of the tradition in
American school systems to not
really give days off for Diwali.
It would probably be possible to
coordinate one long weekend off
for Diwali.”
LSA freshman Ayla Ahmed
and Engineering freshman Arthi
Nadhan said while they enjoyed
the event at North Quad, they did
not feel it accurately represented
the festival.
“I thought there could have
been more light, personally,”
Ahmed said.
Nadhan, who had performed
at the event as a part of Michigan
Sahana, said she also was looking
forward to seeing more lights
at the event, since Diwali is
considered the festival of lights.
“I actually knew a lot about
the holiday, since I celebrate it at
home,” Nadhan said. “But it was
nice seeing that people came and
celebrated it here.”
DIWALI
From Page 1A
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