Xavier University in Ohio, a Jesuit institution, has informed its employees that the school’s health plan will stop covering contraceptives this summer, according to news reports.
“Obviously we’re delighted,” Dan Andriacco, Director of Communications of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, told The Cardinal Newman Society. “We’ve been in extensive communication about this issue.”
The university president informed 950 staff and faculty that it will no longer cover birth control or sterilization procedures (except for non-contraceptive purposes) through its insurer, Humana. The change would take effect July 1.
In a letter sent to employees Monday, President Fr. Michael Graham S.J., reportedly said, “As a Catholic priest and as president of a Catholic university, I have concluded that, absent a legal mandate, it is inconsistent for a Catholic institution to cover those drugs and procedures the Church opposes.”
Fr. Graham, who became president of the university in 2001, said he reviewed the university’s health care plans and reached out to other Catholic colleges.
This comes on the heels of the Obama administration’s mandate that all insurers cover contraceptives, including abortifacients, as well as sterilization procedures.
Cover Photo credit: Flickr/elycefeliz
