Eight months into the Texas A&M system’s new employee health insurance coverage with the CHI St. Joseph Health System, public opposition is expressed.
Click HERE to be directed to the Texas A&M-CHI St. Joseph Health website.
This month’s meeting of the A&M faculty senate included comments from six members…ranging from concerns to making calls for an independent review of the agreement. The chief clinical officer at A&M’s health science center, Dr. Steven Brown, doesn’t understand what would precipitate a need for an investigation of a 22 year old relationship with St. Joseph’s.
Faculty members questioned what happens to women with difficult pregnancies along with health care for gays, lesbians, transgendered people, and fat people.
CHI St. Joseph president Theron Park says the overriding principle for a woman with a serious medical condition or is on the verge of death is do everything possible to save her life.
Dr. Brown added the Brazos Valley network gives A&M employees other options.
Additionally, the leaders of faculty senates and councils at Texas A&M and eight other A&M system universities want the removal of a health survey in order to receive a $30 dollar a month credit on their health insurance coverage. A joint resolution that was passed last week was submitted Tuesday to the A&M system benefits office. According to the resolution, the nine faculty senate speakers and faculty council presidents “collectively believe that compelling employees to share confidential health information protected by law under HIPAA with a third party, for-profit vendor, is fundamentally wrong and violates principles of protection of private information of the employees.”
Tim Eaton at the A&M system says a third party provider affiliated with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas called E-VIVE was hired to collect the information for the system. Eaton says aggregate information that does not identify specific employees will be used by the system to identify any health issues. Eaton says “E-VIVE has made assurances of security”, adding that “they don’t give it to anybody, they don’t sell it to anybody, they don’t look at it.”
A&M and CHI St. Joseph representatives meet monthly to review the overall governing document that began last summer, which includes health care coverage.
In addition to health coverage, the joint agreement includes A&M students learning at CHI St. Joseph facilities.
Listen to “Texas A&M Faculty Senate concerns about new health insurance coverage” on Spreaker.