Tag Archive for 'uva'

UVA Dropping Spouses from Health Insurance

The University of Virginia will no longer offer health insurance to spouses of employees who can otherwise get coverage through their employer, Derek Quizon reports for the Daily Progress. Citing rising healthcare costs, the university will only continue to offer coverage to spouses who don’t have a job that provides them with insurance that meets a minimum federal standard. The planned change sparked angry discussion in offices, break rooms, and mailing lists across the university today.

Other changes are coming, too, as documented on the university’s website about the benefits changes. Premiums are going up by $480/year unless employees submit to a medical screening, with required tests including weight, height, BMI, and a series of blood screenings. They’re also dropping dental coverage, although they’ll allow employees to buy it back. (08/24 Update: Ricky Patterson points out that dental coverage isn’t being dropped, per se—it’s being broken out as its own thing, and everybody will get a basic plan, capped at $1,000/year in benefits, unless they pay more for an enhanced plan.) The changes take effect on January 1.

UVA Practice Facility’s Roof Burns

The University of Virginia’s enormous, under-construction sports practice facility on Emmett Street caught fire yesterday, every area media outlet reports, sending up an enormous column of black smoke that was visible all over town. A layer of rubber atop the roof appears to have been lit by a contractor’s errant blowtorch, starting a fire that spread over a good chunk of the roof and created a challenging situation for responding fire crews to deal with. The $13M structure was slated for completion in August of next year, though presumably that will be pushed back now.

Law School Liar Acquitted of Lying

Remember the UVA Law student who invented a story of how he was racially profiled and humiliated by UVA police? He’s been acquitted of honor code violations. I guess nothing is an honor code violation.  #

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