The Government of the Student Body passed a resolution Wednesday opposing the hastening of a vote by the University Student Health Insurance Committee on recommending a policy requiring all students to carry health insurance next year.

The rising cost of health insurance has led the university to look at ways to lower its premiums on medical expenses.

ISU President Gregory Geoffroy created a Student Health Insurance Committee last year because increased claims by students were taking too much out of the university’s insurance plan. This is creating a significant loss ratio where a student’s medical bills are becoming greater than their insurance premium, creating problems with the university being able to safeguard students against large medical bills.

One approach the committee said they’re looking into to safeguard students is a hard-waiver policy that would require all students to carry either private health insurance or purchase the university’s health plan.

The committee has said in a brochure the policy increases enrollment in the health insurance program by adding new members who were previously uninsured or underinsured. This would positively impact the risk pool by spreading the insurance risk to everyone and not just the students who need immediate care.

Currently, the university’s health insurance policy makes it voluntary for students to carry health insurance.

Cara Harris, chairwoman of GSB’s Student Health Insurance Committee, said the university committee said they would make a recommendation to Vice President for Student Affairs Thomas Hill in mid-February on whether the university should adopt a hard-waiver policy. However, the committee has now changed that date to late December or early January.

Hill would make a recommendation to Geoffroy, who would make the final decision by May, to allow it to be implemented by the next year.

“We’ve felt the timeline has taken away our right to gather information on how students feel about hard waiver,” Harris said. “They came to us and asked for our opinion and for them to take away … seemed unfair and this resolution is meant to convey that.”

She said she believes shortening the decision-making process does not give GSB or the committee enough time to make an educated decision on whether this policy would benefit students or solve the problem.

“I really don’t think students are clearly informed about this issue. I don’t think they realize what it would cost them about $1,000 a year for insurance,” Harris said. “There needs to be more public information provided to students, and they have every right to be able to voice educated concerns and opinions on the issue. I don’t think this can be done through with the time left”

Todd Holcomb, who became chairman of the University Student Health Insurance Committee in November, said he is unsure whether the timeline has been changed. He also said it is his job as chairman to not wait until the last minute to make a recommendation.

“We do have until February to make our recommendation, but we need to be able to have time available to have a process in place to test the system before implementation,” said Holcomb, who is also the associate vice president for student affairs. “We’re still gathering information, but we should have enough information by our next meetings in December or January to make a decision.”

GSB stated in the resolution it cannot currently support a hard-waiver policy because tuition is rising faster than financial aid and more people will be restricted from education due to increased fees than due to unforeseen medical expenses.

“[The price for insurance coverage the committee gave] looks pretty expensive,” Harris said. “I’m worried students wouldn’t be able to pay for it because of the rising cost of tuition. I hope a reduced or discounted rate could be provided.”