Faculty members seek insurance

While Americans debate national health insurance, Truman professors are beginning to debate another health insurance issue.

A survey distributed by the American Association of University Professors to Truman faculty found that the faculty supports health insurance benefits for gay and lesbian partners of Truman staff, said David Robsion, history professor and secretary of the Truman chapter of AAUP. He said the Truman chapter of AAUP brought up the issue at the state AAUP meeting last month, and the question got into the survey.

"Missouri State University in Springfield already has a [faculty senate] group investigating the possibility of expanding the liability for benefits this way, [as] far as I know, nothing in Missouri, no state university in Missouri, has tried to do it," Robinson said.

Robinson said that in Truman's current insurance system only faculty are covered, and they can pay to have their legally married spouse and children covered also. Robinson said an alternative plan would allow faculty to pay for whomever they wanted to be covered.

"[The] plan that has been brought up, especially in some religious schools that are neutral to the gay marriage issue, and they just call it 'faculty plus [one],' and they realize that a faculty member may have living in their home family members, and that could be a domestic partner, but that also could be a child who is somewhat older," Robinson said.

The Truman chapter of AAUP has a committee working with the issue from national and state perspectives, he said. Robinson said that every year the Board of Governors has to approve any benefits or contract revisions that the University president and his staff negotiate.

"Why can't a university, trying to teach [and] prepare our students for leadership, not also be a leader on some of these issues?" Robinson said.

Associate Sociology professor Bonnie Mitchell said she talked to Interim President Darrell Krueger last year when she was considering bringing her partner to Truman. She said she wanted to make sure she could get her partner covered.

"I thought he could bring it up to the Board of Governors, but he basically wasn't willing to do that," Mitchell said. "But he thought more research would have to be done before presenting it to the Board of Governors."

However, Mitchell said she thinks there is momentum building for the issue, and many universities are in the process of re-examining their insurance policies.

"It affects the ability of the University to hire the most qualified person, because in some instances the most qualified person might be gay, lesbian, bi-[sexual] - and they might not be willing to come if they don't have insurance coverage for their partners [when it's] provided by some of the major schools in the region," Mitchell said.

She said the main argument against the new policy would be the cost. Mitchell said she thinks an increase of people in the system will mean more money into the system, so cost shouldn't be an argument.

"It's more about change, and some people are more resistant to change," Mitchell said. "I don't know the political makeup of the Board of Governors, and if they have political views that would conflict, which is part of why we went with 'faculty plus one.'"

Senior Prism member Dan Heagney said it is a difficult time to propose the change because of the budget crisis.

"It will be the Board of Governors or the administration ... putting their conscious over their wallets, which, in this kind of world, is tough to do," Heagney said.

Heagney said Prism would work with Student Senate to get a resolution passed in support of 'faculty plus one.' He said Prism wants to support the issue without meddling because it's a faculty issue.