New restrictions to federal contraceptive services available at the University Health Center will limit services to students who aren’t provided access to sexual health services through insurance and to people who have valid federal IDs.
Some students also worry the changes will affect students’ ability to receive contraception without their parents knowing.
Beginning Nov. 1, the Family Planning Expansion Project will restrict the number of insured students who can access the program for free, forcing insurance companies to pay for services such as STD tests and contraception. FPEP rules will also mandate that students provide legal documentation of U.S. citizenship, such as a passport or birth certificate.
For the past six years, University-enrolled students could visit the Health Center, fill out a brief form and, if eligible, receive free birth control and condoms.
Last February, FPEP, an Oregon Medicaid project for sexually active low-income Oregonians, was the subject of controversy because of its strict aim to provide only family planning management, excluding gay students from contraception services.
The changes require that a student must receive contraception through insurance, no matter how little the company may cover, if the student’s or their parents’ medical insurance covers contraception.
Students whose insurance companies pay for women’s annual exams but not birth control pills can still use FPEP.
The upcoming FPEP cuts are part of the Bush administration’s Deficit Reduction Act, which was enacted this February.
The rule changes may also affect students’ privacy if they have to use their parents’ insurance to qualify for FPEP, potentially alerting their parents that they are sexually active, said University junior Kelly Hansen.
Any student who wishes to keep his or her sexual health needs private could formerly do so by simply checking a confidentiality box on the FPEP enrollment form. Health Center officials then had no legal right to contact the student’s health insurance company and parents.
Insurance billing statements sometimes provide detailed accounts of what services students receive, said University Health Center Medical Billing Coordinator, Trisha Gregg.
“It can say birth control pills,” she said. “It can say pap smear. It can say chlamydia screening.”
Another change to the program will require students to provide legal documentation of U.S. citizenship through either a passport, original birth certificate, certificate of naturalization or official hospital birth record.
Federal policy on illegal immigration influenced the changes, Gregg said.
“It’s not going to make it as convenient,” she said. “Of course, it’s not stopping the service.”
Hansen, the ASUO health and environment advocate, said the regulations will hassle students who left their legal documents at home.
“Any barriers to accessing contraceptives or sexual health services is not in the interest of students,” Hansen said.
Oregon-born students have a slight advantage with the documentation requirement. They can fill out a form specifying their birthplace and parents’ names, which the Health Center enters into a computer tracking system. If the system identifies the student, a student ID or driver’s license will suffice.
Students whose program eligibility does not expire until later this school year will still be able to receive FPEP services as always until their eligibility expires, Gregg said.
Hansen said she went into the Health Center last week to enroll in FPEP.
“I was in and out of the Health Center in 10 minutes, and the hardest part of the application was remembering my Social Security number,” she said. “It saved me the hassle I would have gone through after Nov. 1.”
“Over the years (FPEP) has gotten a little tighter, a little tighter, a little tighter,” said University Health Education Director Paula Staight. “But we will keep using FPEP if it benefits students in some way.”
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