The Student Health Service fee, to be voted on tonight, could be increasing from $75.90 to $82.90 for the fiscal year 2007.

Health Services has been in a $170,000 deficit for the last three years. The 9.2-percent increase is going toward the rising cost of medical expenses and pharmacy rates.

Health Service representative Lynette Drake, who could not be reached for comment, presented the budget request on March 25 requesting the $7 increase in Health Service fees.

The request says the increase in fees will help with the rising costs of pharmacy medications, medical services, over-the-counter medications, health education materials, laboratory fees and x-ray fees.

Mark Bates, co-chair of Tuition and Fee committee, said the increase in the Health Service fee will benefit students because a lot of students use it as their primary health care.

“The effect on students should be positive because the quality and level of service will improve or be maintained at the current level,” Bates said. “Without the increase, critical service could be cut or eliminated, thus putting students’ health and well-being at risk.”

He also said Health Services was hit hard with an increase in pharmacy prices and lab costs, which pushed them into debt.

“(Health Services) could have just raised the pharmacy rates or lab rate, but they feel that it would be better for the students if they weren’t nickeled and dimed to death for every service that Health Service offers to the students,” Bates said.

Senate member Eric Glenn said he talked to 20 to 25 students about the fee increase.

Even though only about half of the students he talked to have used Health Services, he said, “I haven’t talked to anyone that thinks it’s a bad thing.”

Sean Anderson, Speaker of the Senate, said he talked to three people about the fee increases.

“(The people I talked to) were for it because (Health Services) offer so much,” he said. He said the students he talked to were accepting of the increases.

According to Kenney Kozik, who serves as the other co-chair of the committee, one alternative to the increase in fees was to charge students individually for medicines, lab work and even making appointments. He said Health Services has been trying to save money and succeeded by doing a lot of their paper work electronically.

Kozik said this significantly cut printing costs, saving Health Services $20,000 to $35,000.

“This is a service that gets used every day by students,” Kozik said. “Students are utilizing (Health Services) more and they need a little more help.”

Kozik said the fee increase will benefit the students because the fee needs to match the service students receive.

Eastern students have it easy, though, compared to the health service fee at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

According to UIUC’s Web site, the health service fee for an enrolled student is $188.00 for spring 2006. The fee covers care by a doctor or nurse, X-rays, lab tests, most medications, preventive and health educational services and mental health services.

The Student Senate meets at 7 p.m. in the Arcola-Tuscola Room in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union to vote on the fee increase.