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AAU Weekly Wrap-up, October 21, 2016

CONTENTS

BUDGET & APPROPRIATIONS

  • AAU, APLU Urge OMB to Prioritize Higher Education, Research in FY18 Budget Preparation

CONGRESSIONAL ISSUES

  • Associations Provide Congressional Committee Ideas for Improving Research Regulation

EXECUTIVE BRANCH

  • Administration Extends Enforcement Relief for Student Health Plans Under ACA

OTHER

  • Golden Goose Award the Topic of October GUIRR Webinar

BUDGET & APPROPRIATIONS

AAU, APLU URGE OMB TO PRIORITIZE HIGHER EDUCATION, RESEARCH IN FY18 BUDGET PREPARATION

AAU and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) on October 20 sent a letter to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) asking that the Obama Administration’s FY18 budget materials and guidance to the next administration support robust funding for higher education and research.

The letter calls for funding increases of at least four percent a year for research programs in 10 federal agencies—as recommended in Restoring the Foundation, a 2014 report by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences—as well as restoration of the year-round Pell Grant and strengthened support for the Department of Education’s international education and Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need programs.

CONGRESSIONAL ISSUES

ASSOCIATIONS PROVIDE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE IDEAS FOR IMPROVING RESEARCH REGULATION

AAU, APLU, and the Council on Governmental Relations on September 29 submitted a statement for the record to the House Science Committee for its recent hearing on regulatory relief for academic research . The associations thanked the panel’s Subcommittee on Research & Technology for convening the hearing, and offered suggestions for greater research efficiencies.

EXECUTIVE BRANCH

ADMINISTRATION EXTENDS ENFORCEMENT RELIEF FOR STUDENT HEALTH PLANS UNDER ACA

Three federal agencies today released a Frequently Asked Questions document (FAQ) that allows colleges and universities to continue providing subsidized student health insurance plans (SHIPs) to student employees without running the risk that the government would assert the institutions are violating the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

The FAQ, released by the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and Treasury, extends, pending future agency guidance, the temporary enforcement relief provided earlier to higher education institutions. The document acknowledges that SHIPs are often part of a “large and complex admission offer and acceptance process” and that Congress intended the ACA to preserve the ability of institutions of higher education to offer student health insurance plans.

The genesis of this issue is complex. In 2012, HHS issued a rule establishing that student health insurance is a form of individual market coverage; a year later, the IRS issued guidance prohibiting employers from reimbursing employees for individual market premiums (i.e., under premium reduction arrangements). These two pieces of guidance, taken together, led the three agencies to conclude in February 2016 that universities were prohibited from offering health insurance stipends or reimbursements to student employees, because this would violate the rule barring employers from subsidizing the cost of individual market coverage.

Last month, a group of seven higher education associations, including AAU, sent a letter to the three department heads urging them to find a permanent means for universities to continue providing SHIPs for their graduate students under the ACA. The associations’ September 6 letter followed up on a similar letter sent June 27 to the three agency leaders by Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) and a group of 16 other Democratic senators.

OTHER

GOLDEN GOOSE AWARD THE TOPIC OF OCTOBER GUIRR WEBINAR

The Golden Goose Award will be the subject of a webinar hosted by the Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable (GUIRR) on Thursday, October 27, from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. EDT. The program is open to the public; registration is required .

Featured panelists Joshua Shiode of AAAS and Julia Smith of AAU will discuss the history of the Golden Goose Award and the impact of its awardees’ research stories.