In light of QualChoice's merger with Coventry Health Insurance, the University is in the process of selecting a new insurance company.
The Board of Visitors requires all students to have some form of health insurance. Any graduate students who receive health insurance as a benefit of employment, including teaching assistants, are required to use the University's health-care provider.
A subcommittee of the Student Health Insurance Committee is now reviewing the request for proposal, a document asking firms to bid for the University's acceptance. It outlines the University's needs in the search for a health-care provider.
Students and faculty comprise the student health insurance committee.
"We're happy to have the opportunity to find a new provider who can give a more responsive service to U.Va.," said Todd Price, president of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Council and a committee member.
"Since we're a public institution, we have to make a bid available to insurance agencies at large," said Steve Heldreth, University procurement manager and senior purchasing analyst.
Student Health and the University's Procurement Services worked together to draw up the RFP draft, which they submitted to the Student Health Insurance Committee on Nov. 13.
An insurance firm's proposal will be accepted at the end of April.
The request for proposal asks for a wide scope of benefits, including contraceptive coverage, for students using the insurance.
Last year, graduate students voiced concerns about QualChoice's lack of contraceptive coverage in its prescription benefit plan.
In the RFP, "prescription benefits specifically include contraceptives," Director for Administration of Student Health Alison Montgomery said.
Other than the inclusion of contraceptive coverage, the RFP resembles the plan QualChoice currently offers.
The request for proposal does not provide details such as prices, and plan information will be left for the companies to propose.
"The RFP is not such a closed process that we are limited to its criteria," Montgomery said. "There is room for negotiation."
According to Price, many students have also expressed discontent with QualChoice's low quality of customer service in recent years.
"Students, particularly grad students, have been asking student health to open up the contract for bid for several years," he said. "There has been general dissatisfaction with customer relations and the information they provide."
After the subcommittee reviews the document, the RFP will go to a pre-bid conference that will provide insurance companies with the opportunity to ask questions about the RFP. The insurance companies will then have a certain amount of time to submit their proposals to the University.
"We may get back a standard response from the firms," Heldreth said. "I just hope that the industry, in an era of high insurance rates, comes back with something that makes everyone happy"
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