University of Missouri to subsidize graduate student health insurance indefinitely

Three federal departments on Friday indefinitely extended the ability for colleges and universities in the United States to continue providing the same health insurance subsidies for graduate student assistants without facing a penalty from the Internal Revenue Service.

The announcement by the departments of Labor, Treasury and Health and Human Services will allow the University of Missouri to avoid changing health insurance subsidies it provides graduate assistants after Jan. 1.

U.S. Sen Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., released a statement lauding the Obama Administration’s move but added she still is pushing for a permanent fix to the issue.

“Mizzou’s hardworking teaching assistants had been left in limbo about whether they’d be able to access the affordable, quality health insurance they’d relied on,” McCaskill, an MU alumna, said in the statement. “So this decision is great news for both the school and its graduate students — providing more certainty for the school year and beyond, and I’ll continue working to make that certainty permanent.”

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