LOCAL NEWS
BYU-Idaho Reverses Decision On Medicaid Coverage
Nov 26, 2019, 8:11 AM | Updated: 12:37 pm
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – BYU-Idaho has reversed the decision to no longer accept Medicaid for student health insurance. The Deseret News reports that school officials, in an email, offered an apology for “the turmoil caused by our earlier decision.”
The issue was first reported nationally in the New York Times, where students Emily and Kullen Langston said they were told their Medicaid would no longer be accepted at the university, and they would have to buy private coverage to remain in school.
According to the BYU-Idaho web site, all students “are required to have adequate medical coverage in the Rexburg area.”
Students have the option to participate in the university-backed Student Health Plan, private insurance or “an acceptable substitute.” Those substitutes include insurance through a parent, an employer, Medicare or another plan compliant with the Affordable Care Act.
If not participating in the Student Health Plan, students must sign a waiver and show proof of other coverage.
University officials issued a statement on November 15, saying BYU-Idaho, “has decided to not accept the Idaho Expanded Medicaid program… to serve as an insurance waiver option for students.”
The statement went on to say the university would work with students on a case-by-case basis to help with healthcare options.
Prices posted to their site listed coverage on the Student Health Plan at $536 per person per semester, or $2,130 per family. Families made up of two full-time students were recommended to get two individual plans, unless a substitute was available.
No reason was given in the mid-November statement about the decision not to accept the Idaho Expanded Medicaid program.
Following negative feedback about the decision, the university reversed course.
BYU-Idaho authorities wrote in the email sent to the Deseret News Monday:
“We have decided that Medicaid, as it has been in previous years, will meet the health coverage requirement at BYU-Idaho. Because of its limited capacity and scope of services, our Health Center has not been a Medicaid service provider. This will not change. We are grateful to the healthcare professionals in the area who provide services to Medicaid recipients. … The well-being of our students and their families is very important to us. We are grateful for the feedback we have received from our campus community and for the input of the local medical community.”