{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/latest-headlines/mizzou-to-grad-assistants-keep-calm-and-keep-your-health-insurance-", "Mizzou to grad assistants: Keep calm and keep your health insurance", "2016-10-27", "2016", "2016-10", "Democrat", "House", "MO", "Claire McCaskill", "M001170", "www.mccaskill.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Mizzou to grad assistants: Keep calm and keep your health insurance  \r\n                \r\n            \r\n            \r\n                Thursday, October 27, 2016\r\n            \r\n            \n\t\n\r\n            \r\n            \r\n                  \r\n                    By:\u00a0\r\n                    Ashley Jost\r\n                \r\n            \r\n            \r\n                \r\n                \r\n                \r\n            ST. LOUIS \u2022 The University of Missouri-Columbia will continue providing graduate assistants subsidies for their health insurance \u2014 at least through this school year.\r\nThe issue erupted on the Columbia campus last fall when leaders said they\u2019d stop the longtime practice of offering these students subsidies.\r\nThe decision at the time stemmed from guidance on the Affordable Care Act that led university leaders to fear they\u2019d face legal ramifications because, in the eyes of the IRS, those students are considered employees.\r\nThe Affordable Care Act penalizes employers for giving employees money to purchase health insurance coverage on their own.\r\nThanks to a decision by three federal departments last week, universities such as Mizzou can take as much time as they need to figure out the future of providing students with health insurance. The Health and Human Services, Labor and Treasury departments agreed on the extension.\r\nU.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., lobbied for the extension, and touted it as a win for students and the university, adding that she will \u201ccontinue working to make that certainty permanent.\u201d\r\n\u201cMizzou\u2019s hardworking teaching assistants had been left in limbo about whether they\u2019d be able to access the affordable, quality health insurance they\u2019d relied on,\u201d McCaskill said in a statement.\r\nShortly after the announcement last fall that Mizzou would pull back on the subsidies \u2014 leading to protests from students and faculty \u2014 the school reneged. The issue added to a semester full of public scrutiny on campus.\r\nThe recently announced extension allows Mizzou \u201cthe time and ability to work toward identifying a permanent quality, affordable, health coverage solution for our graduate students looking forward,\u201d a campus spokesperson said in a statement.\r\nFor now, students keep their subsidies.\r\n            \r\n             \r\n            \r\n            \n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/latest-headlines/mizzou-to-grad-assistants-keep-calm-and-keep-your-health-insurance-"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3640890829265118, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}