1 of 14

BPC Advocacy Committee:

Data & Progress to date

Committee members: Andrea Joseph, Lindsey Fernandez, Shannon Wolfman

2 of 14

Two independent surveys regarding postdoc benefits

Biomedical Postdoctoral Programs

176 responses out of 800 total postdocs from Schools of Medicine, Dental Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Nursing, and Arts & Sciences

Department of Psychiatry

28 responses out of 58 total postdocs

Questions regarding health insurance, childcare, retirement, transit, and other benefits

Questions regarding health insurance benefits for postdoc, partner, and child/children

3 of 14

BPP survey results: health insurance

What are your health insurance priorities?

Lower dependent premiums

Out-of-network coverage

Fertility care

Mental health care

Biomedical Postdoctoral Programs

176 responses out of 800 total postdocs from Schools of Medicine, Dental Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Nursing, and Arts & Sciences

4 of 14

BPP survey results: health insurance

Make mental health care affordable and accessible: “The past few years have been really stressful for me (and others) as a postdoc. The pandemic has exacerbated existing problems in mental health such as anxiety and depression in academia. The few times that I looked into mental health services such as therapy I was discouraged from these services by the high out-of-pocket costs. I have found other ways to practice self-care and cope with postdoc stress but I do think this is an essential service that should be included in our health insurance.”

Expand out-of-network coverage: “I am a postdoc at Penn but my family lives in northern Maryland, about an hour away, and it's really a challenge to find providers in my network.”

Expand coverage for fertility care services: “The low salary associated with being a Biomedical Postdoc (compared to other PhD level jobs) means that if I need to pursue fertility treatments I will be unable to do so without leaving academia.”

Lower dependent premiums: “My husband and I were both Penn postdocs for a while. We had to pay 700$ for health insurance plus 2400$ for daycare each month for our newborn baby, which caused dramatical financial stress to the family. My husband had to quit his academic career because of this.”

5 of 14

Psychiatry survey results

Is your partner covered?

Is your child covered?

What barriers to having your dependents having Penn health care insurance do you see?

Demographics

Note from Prof. Torrey Creed: “[These] answers make it clear that the cost is a significant issue.”

6 of 14

Psychiatry survey testimonials: high cost of coverage

“Had to prioritize adding my child instead of my partner given the cost could only afford one dependent.”

“I was able to get funding from my mentor to support the cost of my partners insurance, and my own PD funds, otherwise it would have been too expensive on a postdoc salary.”

“I would strongly recommend reducing the cost or allowing own dependent free of charge as this was a hardship for us this year. It might have changed my choice in program had I known.”

“I would like to have children but cannot afford to based on pay and benefits. If by some chance I can afford to have a child they will need to be on my spouse's insurance, which is less expensive ($60/pp/mo for vision, dental, and health--dental and health are PPO with better coverage) (which is pretty incredible, since I work for a medical school!). Whereas my spouse now has excellent insurance, when they lost their job the cost to add them to mine was so cost prohibitive (and difficult) and still so restrictive that it was cheaper with better coverage to keep them on COBRA. Even if our insurance was cheaper it is so comparatively difficult to access any care that it may not be worth it.”

7 of 14

Comparison to other postdoc plans nationwide

Priority #1: increase university cost-sharing of plans with dependents

8 of 14

Comparison to other postdoc plans nationwide

NPA Institutional Policy Report: Average of 199 member institutions for “postdoc trainees” benefits

At Michigan:

Single: $604 (PD: $0)

Two person: $1040 (PD: $168)

Family: $981 (PD: $82)

Mental health - $25 co-pay

IVF - 20% co-insurance

At UW:

Single: postdoc pays $24

Two person: PD pays $58

Family: PD pays $76

Mental health - 15% co-insurance

IVF - not covered

Penn pays

postdoc pays

569

0……

627

1286

N/A

Priority #1: increase university cost-sharing of plans with dependents

9 of 14

Comparison to other plans at Penn

Affiliate Type	Medical Plans
Students	Aetna Penn Student Insurance Plan (PPO)
Full-time university faculty and staff	Four plans ranging from high to low expense/coverage PennCare PPO Aetna Choice POS II (similar to PPO) Keystone/AmeriHealth HMO Aetna HDHP
Postdocs	Aetna HMO Default plan for new postdocs Aetna PPO Might default to this plan if out-of-state Prohibitively expensive to choose otherwise +$282/month to be paid by postdoc +$932/month to $1,917/month for family

Main health insurance plan types in the US

HMO

Health maintenance organization

PPO

Preferred provider organization

Cheaper cost per visit

(Postdoc HMO: $20-$30 copay)

Only covers providers in network

Somewhat higher cost per visit

(Postdoc PPO: $30-$40 copay)

Assured some coverage for all providers

Priority #2: subsidize PPO plan to increase accessibility of out-of-network services

10 of 14

Comparison to other plans at Penn

Affiliate Type	Students	Full time University Faculty and Staff	Postdocs
Adding dependents	Fully covered under the same coverage No additional cost for adding one child and spouse/domestic partner Additional costs for 2+ children, but grants for students with families Family Grant for Childcare $5,000/year for one child +$2,500/year per additional child Up to $10,000/year total Dependent Health Insurance Grant $1,000/year per dependent	Additional costs for adding dependents PennCare PPO ~$300/month for 1 partner or child $470/month for family Aetna Choice POS II (PPO-like) ~$240/month for partner $90/month for 1 child $337/month for family	No family grants for postdocs Additional costs to postdoc for adding dependents HMO: $627/month for 1 child or partner $1,286 per month for family PPO: $932/month for 1 child or partner $1,917/month for family

(Re-iterate Priority #1: reduce costs of plans with dependents)

11 of 14

Comparison to other plans at Penn

Affiliate type	Students	Full-time university faculty and staff	Postdocs
Mental health care	In network: $10 copay Out of network: 30% coinsurance Access to on-campus counseling and psychological services (CAPS) No appointment drop-in service 24/7 call-in support	Access to Penn Cobalt, a matching program for mental health services PennCare PPO In network: QuestPreferred and QuestRegional networks Out of network: 40% coinsurance after $500 deductible	No access to CAPS or Penn Cobalt for professional mental health services Aetna HMO: Access only to Penn Behavioral Health (PBH) Postdocs report mixed experiences in accessing services through PBH Aetna PPO: Limited network beyond PBH Out of network: 40% coinsurance after $800 deductible

Postdocs experience difficulty in accessing a variety of service types

Priority #3: provide an expanded list of mental health care providers outside of PBH & a number of counseling services with no co-pay

12 of 14

Comparison to other plans at Penn

Affiliate type	Students	Full-time university faculty and staff	Postdocs
Dental care	Free Penn Student Dental Plan Access Penn Dental Faculty Practice	Penn Employee Dental Plan Access Penn Dental Faculty Practice Metlife PDP Access network of dentists	Dental HMO (default) No access to Penn Dental Faculty Practice May only attend Penn Student Clinic: Some postdocs report difficulty getting in contact with providers, waiting months to get appointments on schedule Dental PPO (difficult to switch to)

Postdocs experience difficulty in accessing a variety of service types

Priority #4: expand options for dental care

13 of 14

Comparison to other plans at Penn

Affiliate Type	Students	Full time University Faculty and Staff	Postdocs
In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)	Vague language in documents library but some coverage for advanced reproductive technologies (ART) Reports of two free rounds of IVF	In network coverage across all plans ranging from First visit copay $40-$50 Coinsurance after deductible 10-20%	Not covered No coverage for other ART either unless you live in New Jersey which has a coverage mandate

Priority #5: increase coverage of fertility care services, given that 80% of our postdocs are of reproductive age

14 of 14

Conclusion: Our priorities

1. Lower premiums for plans with dependents

2. Cover the full PPO premium so postdocs have a fair choice for expanded out-of-network coverage

3. Make mental health care affordable & accessible

4. Expand options for dental care providers

5. Prioritize covering fertility care services

6. Gain representation on University Councils, etc.

Call to action: how can we work together to begin to address these issues?