Student senate passes Health, Wellness and Counseling fee shift

ASBSU unanimously approved a resolution to funnel student health

insurance fees through the Boise State Health, Wellness and

Counseling Center.

The new resolution, which will be forwarded to the

administration, requests a shift in the health, wellness and

counseling fee all students pay as a part of their regular student

fees. This $25 fee provides all students with routine office

visits, not including lab work or the cost of some

prescriptions.

According to ASBSU Sen. Spencer Henderson, the shift in fees

will allow students more control over what services are actually

offered at the Health, Wellness and Counseling Center.

“The resolution says that the ASBSU Senate would have

oversight responsibility, so students could provide input on what

they wanted out of the Center. ASBSU would be able to do studies to

see whether students wanted to have things like more counselors or

to have the center open on Saturdays,” he said.

Under the current system, the health insurance premium is a

separate charge from the student fees and paid to a separate fund.

According to Henderson, the new system would be a two-tiered

insurance system. All students are currently required to pay both

the $25 Health, Wellness and Counseling Center fee and the $243

insurance charge.

The new system would not change a student’s ability to get

a refund of the insurance charge. According to Henderson, it would

merely change the billing of the $25 charge, making it easier for

students to have input on the services provided. He also said the

student senate would develop a formal process for student

input.

Henderson said the fee shift proposal does not entail an

increase in current fees. The resolution states that the current

arrangement makes it difficult to adjust the fees to compensate for

added services. The change would enable fee changes to be made

without the direct approval of the State Board of Education, and

without interfering with other student fees.

Ferd Schlapper, executive director of the Health, Wellness and

Counseling Center, said in the senate meeting that the student body

has a need for learning disability screenings, expansion of mental

health counseling services and expansion of the sexual health

counseling services.

He added that the Health, Wellness and Counseling Center

currently has limited capacity to expand because of the need to

send all requests through the State Board of Education.

“Our staff is stretched thin,” he said. “The

scope of services we can offer is less than that of other schools

this size.”

Sen. Henderson said he wants to reinforce to students that the

Health, Wellness and Counseling Center primary care is available to

all students regardless of their choice to keep the $243 per

semester health insurance or not.

The insurance covers surgical care up to $65,000 per illness or

injury and hospital emergency room visits with a $500 deductible if

the student is not admitted to the hospital. 

Elizabeth Puckett, The Arbiter

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