The heath service fee is scheduled to increase by $2 in effect in Summer 2009, pending a Board approval.

The fee, now at $14 will go up to $16 next semester.

The state of California has a bar that the school may not raise the cost above $17.

Student health fees pay for visits with physicians and nurses at the Student Health and Wellness Center.

Some other services cost additional charges.

Health insurance is not required to use the center.

Due to the rising cost of supplies and other costs, Nancy Montgomery of the Student Health and Wellness Center requested the increase be approved of the ASCC.

“I think it’s necessary, given what (it is) doing,” ASCC President Michael Barrita said. “(It has) expanded the services.”

Barrita said the center is not outside funded, so the extra $2 is helpful.

“A lot more students are taking advantage of the center,” he said.

ASCC Vice President Shola Shodiya said, “It’s a great bill that should be passed.”

Shodiya had the flu recently and she took advantage of the center, getting the medicine.

Senator Krishna Baskota said he’s in favor of the increase in price.

“Everything has went up like the price of medicine,” he said. “I don’t have any objection.”
Karen Santoyo, senator, said, “It’s going back to the students.”

Santoyo isn’t the only one that sees it that way.

Senator Woosuk Kim said, “That money is going to be spent on us.”

As it reads in archived Cerritos catalogs, the student health fee was $12 in the 2003-2004 school year.

It rose to $13 in the 2004-2005 school year and then $14 in the 2006-2007 school year.

Regular hours for the Student Health and Wellness Center are Monday through Friday at 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. during the Fall and Spring semesters.

The center is closed on Fridays during Summer sessions.

After-hours care is not provided by the Student Health and Wellness Center.