Health & Welfare Fund

K-SWOC is working to improve student healthcare before a union contract through student worker collective action and coalition-building with our allies. Our Health & Welfare Fund’s first campaign is to support a direct primary care pilot program that has already enrolled 20 current students. If you are a student worker interested in discussing enrolling in the program, email union@kswoc.org with the subject line “Healthcare program.” Read more about the program below. 

If you are a student worker, we encourage you to sign-up to become a voluntary Solidarity Dues-paying member of K-SWOC, which collectively supports our Health & Welfare Fund:

Allies of K-SWOC, please consider donating to our Health & Welfare Fund Patreon to help fund our direct primary care pilot program for Kenyon students:

Background

In response to membership and community-based discussions K-SWOC held in Fall 2022 around our “Brackett’s Path” and “Health & Safety Addendum” research reports, we identified the lack of affordable, accessible, and reliable healthcare as a major crisis facing Kenyon students — especially those who need to rely on Kenyon’s student health insurance plan. 

In the face of the College’s insistence on spending resources on union-busting lawyers to delay union recognition instead of prioritizing investments in student health and well-being, K-SWOC decided to try something new. We have partnered with a direct primary care (DPC) provider with a previous history of treating Kenyon community members, Signature Primary Care & Wellness, to start a primary care pilot program to fund a limited number of current student workers with life-changing healthcare right now. 

In addition to helping students now, our  goal is to build a proven alternative model of student healthcare that can be negotiated as an Employer-funded benefit in K-SWOC’s first union contract. If given the opportunity, we believe this model will improve student healthcare and help reverse the College’s decline in retention, a win for both students and the College’s long-term sustainability as an institution.

Direct Primary Care 

Direct primary care (DPC) is a healthcare practice model where patients pay the provider direct recurring payments (usually a flat monthly membership fees) in exchange for unlimited access to primary care services. DPC differs from traditional healthcare as it cuts out the role of third-party insurance coverage on a fee-for-service basis (co-pays, deductibles, co-insurance for each visit or service) for primary care. Individuals with any type of insurance and those who are uninsured can join a DPC practice. 

DPC is not a total replacement for insurance, but rather a great benefit in addition to basic insurance coverage, especially for undergraduate student workers who have federally-mandated minimum insurance coverage through their school, but lack access to a reliable provider for their health needs. Benefits associated with DPC include: 

  • Decline in overall health costs for patients and providers;

  • Increased visit times; 

  • More personalized relationship with physicians;

  • Removes financial disincentive for follow-up appointments that exists under traditional insurance model; 

Read more in the DPC research report authored by the Society of Actuaries.

Our Partner: Signature Primary Care & Wellness 

Signature Primary Care & Wellness is a DPC provider based in Hilliard, Ohio, just outside Columbus, led by Dr. Paige Gutheil and Dr. Robin Newburn. Kenyon students currently join Dr. Newburn’s patient panel. K-SWOC holds an official sponsorship agreement with Signature Primary Care & Wellness covering up to 50 Kenyon student patients. 100% of student registration and monthly membership fees at Signature Primary Care & Wellness are covered and billed directly to K-SWOC’s Health & Welfare Fund. 

Watch a Webinar Dr. Gutheil held with members of K-SWOC and the Kenyon community about Signature Primary Care & Wellness:

Read quotes from Kenyon students already enrolled in the pilot program: 

Long-term Vision: A Union Contract 

We believe it is Kenyon College’s responsibility as a school and as an employer to fully fund accessible, high-quality healthcare for all students. That is why K-SWOC intends to bargain funding a DPC healthcare benefit in our first union contract with Kenyon College. This vision would combine examples of other student worker unions — such as Harvard Graduate Students Union - UAW Local 5118 — bargaining student benefits funded by the college/university with the unions who have use the DPC model in their union contracts (See DPC provider Everside Health’s Union Division).