Karen Lin, Senior Photographer

A year after the YCC passed a bill establishing the Healthcare Transportation Reimbursement Program, the initiative is set to receive administrative support. As early as next year, the Yale College Dean’s Office will be responsible for reimbursing transportation to and from Yale Health and nearby hospitals, a financial burden which often deters students from seeking medical attention. 

Once the initiative is integrated into the Dean’s Office, the YCC will collaborate with the administration to carry out the program’s operations and continue to alleviate the impact of rideshare costs on healthcare accessibility.

“We decided to implement the program again this year to continue to address this problem and to collect more data for administration to have when the program is eventually transferred to them,” Surabhi Kumar ’26, YCC health and accessibility policy director, wrote to the News. 

The Healthcare Transportation Reimbursement Program was conceived in response to concerns around healthcare accessibility for undergraduate students. Students often choose not to seek necessary care as a result of transportation costs particularly late at night, YCC representatives previously told the News.

The YCC initially looked into expanding shuttle access to and from Yale Health but found that routes could not be drawn around the building.

“After speaking with Yale Shuttle Services, we learned that it was physically not possible for a shuttle to travel on the street where Yale Health is located,” Kumar explained. “We were told that the street near Yale Health is too small for the shuttles to use. Specifically, there is a corner that they cannot turn on.”

Rideshare services are often the most tenable solution for students seeking non-emergent healthcare in the New Haven area. Kumar emphasized the distinction between non-emergent and emergent health issues, stating that students facing emergency medical situations should call 911 instead of using these services. 

This year, the YCC is offering reimbursement packages of up to $30 for round-trip transportation to medical facilities, or a maximum of $15 each way. The maximum reimbursement value was determined based on an analysis of over 100 reimbursements granted during last year’s pilot program, according to Ethan Hsu ’27, YCC finance director, and Adnan Bseisu ’26, YCC chief financial officer. These reimbursements averaged $17.33. Currently, students must submit receipts through a Google Form provided by the YCC in order to be reimbursed.

The YCC has allocated $1,000 of its budget to cover reimbursements this year and has confirmed that the Yale College Dean’s Office will provide funding for reimbursements beyond this threshold. Last year, the YCC allocated $1,680 for the program. 

The YCC expects the Dean’s Office to cover all transportation reimbursements as early as next year, according to Kumar. 

“Once we have the data from this year, we will have a better sense of the need and how much financial support will be required,” Associate Dean of Student Affairs Hannah Peck wrote to the News. “The next step will be to figure out a practical and simple way for students to receive their reimbursements.”

The Dean’s Office already reimburses First-Year Counselors for taking students to Yale Health and expects to build on this experience in its offering of reimbursements to all undergraduates. 

The integration of the Healthcare Transportation Reimbursement Program into the Dean’s Office is an accomplishment for YCC policymakers. 

“By implementing this program and gathering data on its utilization, the YCC has made a strong case for Yale’s administration to take on the responsibility of funding healthcare transportation, ensuring that seeking medical care is never hindered by cost,” Hsu and Bseisu wrote.

The YCC Finance Team is currently in charge of distributing reimbursements to students. The team is experiencing a similar volume of reimbursement requests this year as during last year’s pilot program. 

In the first month of the program’s operations this year, the YCC has received around 20 requests for reimbursement, which is comparable to the 15 to 20 requests per month it received last year, according to Hsu and Bseisu. The volume of requests is typically elevated in the winter months.

As long as reimbursement requests are for rides with destinations and purposes contained within the program’s guidelines, students can generally expect to have their costs covered.

“Last year, fewer than 5 percent of requests were denied, primarily because they were for non-rideshare services like Metro North, non-medical destinations like Union Station, or locations significantly outside the New Haven area, such as Trumbull, CT,” Hsu and Bseisu wrote.

Yale Health is located at 55 Lock St.