Call for investigations of UNC for forced student abortion insurance coverage
Update 8/20: View SFL’s letter to the Governor here.
Last week Students for Life of America revealed that not only were all University of North Carolina system students being forced to procure health insurance this fall, but plans purchased through the state would mandatorily include abortion coverage.
The UNC Board of Governors quickly caved following adverse publicity. As Robin Marty lamented on RH Reality Check yesterday:
It happened so quickly you might have missed it if you blinked. One day a storm was brewing on the UNC campus, with the administration taking a firm stance on one side, and the campus’s anti-abortion student group pushing hard from the other.
The next morning, the storm blew over, the University had acquiesced, and the fight was done.
Not so fast, Robin. You may wish.
It’s true the UNC Board of Governors ostensibly backed down within 2 days after SFL publicized its plan, promising it would allow students to opt out of abortion coverage.
But, it said, the price of the 2 plans would still be identical ($600-750 annually, depending on the school).
This makes no sense. Additional benefits should cost additional money, particularly at this price. If a $600 plan allows up to $500 for abortions, then the same plan without abortion coverage should cost less. And what about male students? Why are their insurance premiums also the same?
Something smells, especially since UNC will provide SFL no proof that all payments aren’t ending up in the same pool.
So today SFL is sending a letter to NC Insurance Commissioner Gov. Beverly Perdue (pictured left), calling for an investigation into the insurance pricing structure of UNC and its insurer, Pearce & Pearce, one of the US’s largest student health insurance providers.
SFL President Kristan Hawkins told me her group will be asking Perdue to investigate the insurance charges as well as that UNC is forcing pro-life students to opt out of abortion coverage, not allowing pro-aborts to opt in.
But there’s more. UNC officials told SFL that student insurance costs will be rolled into their total school cost, increasing the likelihood more students will be eligible for federal government funded Pell grants.
The Hyde Amendment covers Pell grants, meaning Pell grants cannot pay for elective abortions.
So a student getting a Pell grant should not be able to use any of that grant money to pay for insurance that includes abortion coverage.
Therefore, SFL will also be calling for a Congressional investigation of the UNC abortion insurance coverage scandal.
There is a great likelihood that UNC isn’t the only state college system attempting this. Stay tuned.
[Graphic via SFL]
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
Wow. Good for SFL!
If pro-choice advocates want to keep saying “Don’t believe in abortion then don’t have one” they’d better stop trying to get me to foot the bill.
“Don’t believe in abortion? Don’t pay for it.”
Sure they are all concerned about whether or not the student plans will provide for abortion but what about the fact that all NC College systems students are being required to have health insurance? And that to “opt out” a student must provide to a third party, Pearce and Pearce, a competitor in the industry, that health insurance information which includes personal information.
This is a gross violation of personal liberties and constitutional rights.
And while the cost of the university provided insurance by Pearce and Pearce looks like a great deal, one might note that there is no cap. Your copay is 20%, period.
So, say you were in an accident that incurred medical bills up to $100,000 which is pretty easy to do. Let’s say that that is the negotiated amount–you would be on the hook for $20,000.
Really, not much a deal.
For my son, I opted for a plan with an HSA. He can’t have an HSA but I have one and it will still cover his medical expenses if he has any. His outlay for the year is capped at $2700.
So, while he would have to pay full price until that amount, he/I would never get stuck with $20K worth of medical bills.
It’s bad insurance all the way around.
And its frightening that so many students have no opted out. How many of those paying for it are doing it intentionally? I found the exercise intrusive and aggravating.
There is far more to this than just abortion coverage. The abortion coverage is just down a few steps of the slippery slope that is coming with Obamacare…
Kay L. obviously understands the concepts of due diligence and caveat emptor.
Students should have to take a class in due diligence the same semester that they take statistics.
You have to appreciate the irony of an insurer seeing college students (allegedly intelligent) as easy targets for such a poor insurance product.
Seems a symptom of the rise of credentialism. Every kid wants a piece of paper that says he is educated. The education itself, however, is not so sought after.