Policy initiatives

Improving health care support for PDFs

In addition to other changes that attend the transition to a postdoctoral fellowship-supported position are significant modifications to healthcare coverage. The Advocacy Committee is working towards the longer-term goal of a Yale-provided PDF healthcare fund to help defray the additional healthcare expenses incurred by postdoctoral fellows who are no longer eligible for the health coverage provided to postdoctoral associates.

Improving postdoctoral salaries

Though Yale’s postdoctoral salaries are currently compliant with NIH-recommended minimums, the university’s postdoctoral pay scale has lagged significantly behind the NIH postdoctoral stipend schedule in recent years. Such stagnation in pay can pose a significant hardship to postdocs who face yearly increases to living expenses. The Advocacy Committee is working toward a long-term commitment from Yale to, at a minimum, keep pace with inflation and future changes to the NIH-recommended minimum postdoctoral salary levels.

Forestalling co-pays at Yale Health

During the Fall of 2018, Yale announced that employee health insurance premiums would increase for 2019 and that new copays would be introduced. In response, the YPA collected feedback from the postdoc community and conducted a survey to determine the unintended negative consequences of the proposed changes. With these data and the many dire concerns postdocs shared with us, the YPA arranged for several meetings with members of the administration and advocated on behalf of the postdoc community. Our efforts, alongside those of concerned faculty and staff, were instrumental in Yale’s decision to 1) delay and ultimately forgo the implementation of copays and 2) rescind the proposed increase Postdoctoral Associates’ monthly premiums. We are grateful to the postdoc community for trusting us with your stories as we sought to amplify your voices. We welcome your continued feedback, questions, and concerns. A summary of these efforts can be found here: https://ypa.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/YPA%20Advocacy%20Committee%20-%20Health%20Insurance%20Update-%20January%2C%202019.pdf