October 30, 2023

To: UC President Michael V. Drake

Dear President Drake:

We, concerned members of the University of California faculty, are extremely disappointed with the skyrocketing medical plan costs that your administration has imposed on our staff and faculty. We ask that you lower this unjustified and outrageous increase and address your administration’s lack of transparency.

Please note that this month, we expect to begin receiving the 4.6% cost-of-living adjustments that you authorized on April 17, 2023. However, because compensations for administration members began on July 1 this year, the equivalent faculty salary adjustment is, at best, 3.45%, which, in most cases, is barely enough to cover the increased cost of health insurance premiums.

The cost of medical insurance has increased nationwide. However, we are unconvinced that external forces justify increases of 22.4%, 58.4%, and 170.7%, even considering California's rising insurance costs. Other higher education institutions in California have enacted reasonable increases for employees' contributions to similar medical plans. For example, Stanford decreased employees' contributions by 5.2% in some cases and increased by 7.4%, 8%, 11.8%, and 13.7% in other cases. CalTech rates ranged from 5% to 10%. Likewise, the University of Southern California, which has a tier program like ours, has increased employees' contributions by only 1.2% to 12.8%.

California State University (CSU) cannot be compared because the employer covers most health plans offered. However, unlike CSU, the University of California does not disclose the amount it pays for each specific plan. Our university website states that UC significantly increased its contribution to benefits premiums. This gives us the impression that your administration is reducing the proportion of an employer's contribution and disproportionately increasing the cost for employees and retirees. Unfortunately, we will not know how much UC pays until 2024, when we receive the first compensation.  

The University of California is “a majority contributor to the state’s prosperity, generating $82 billion a year in economic activity and supporting more than half a million jobs.” We firmly believe that your administration should be more attentive to the crucial needs--and the morale--of the faculty and staff who propel the UC engine.

We ask that you (1) please rescind the high medical costs and (2) address this matter urgently before the end of open enrollment.  Thank you very much for your prompt attention to this important issue.  

Respectfully submitted,

Walter S. Leal, Distinguished Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology, UC Davis

Susan M. Kauzlarich, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, UC Davis

Bruno Nachtergaele, Distinguished Professor of Mathematics, UC Davis

Abigail Thompson, Distinguished Professor of Mathematics, UC Davis

Magdalena Wojcieszak, Professor of Communication, UC Davis

Hemant K. Bhargava, Distinguished Professor of Management, UC Davis

Leopoldo M. Bernucci, Distinguished Professor of Spanish and Portuguese, UC Davis

Bruce D. Hammock,   Distinguished Professor, Department of Entomology & UCD Comprehensive Cancer Center, UC Davis

Raquel E. Aldana, Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law, UC Davis

Wolf-Dietrich Heyer, Distinguished Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, UC Davis

Gerald Quon, Associate Professor, Molecular and Cellular Biology 

Peter Burke, Professor, EECS, UC Irvine

James Letts, Associate Professor, UC Davis