The GEO Women’s Caucus has been running a campaign to advocate for fertility treatment coverage for University of Michigan employees. Here is an update on the campaign’s progress:
Employees at the University of Michigan who require medical assistance to get pregnant have no coverage for fertility treatments. By comparison, Employees of the State of Michigan, US Federal Employees, and staff members at MSU and EMU all have options for some kind of fertility treatment coverage. A GEO member, diagnosed with infertility at age 27, began petitioning University administrators in August of 2013 asking for coverage of fertility treatments. GEO’s Women’s Caucus is organizing with this member to advocate for fertility treatment coverage as a social justice issue.
GEO works diligently to empower and support all members, including those who face hardships or barriers to entering and successfully completing graduate programs. In addition to supporting parents (those who enter as parents or become parents during graduate school), our issues campaigns have expanded rights for international students, transgender individuals, people with disabilities, the queer community, and more. This is what makes our union strong and it should be celebrated.
On January 16th of 2014, the Women’s Caucus met with Laurita Thomas and Human Resources representatives. Thomas is the Vice President of Human Resources (HR), and is the ultimate decision maker with respect to benefits coverage for UM academic and medical personnel. At this meeting, HR indicated that they are considering inclusion of some type of coverage for fertility treatments but they could not give details on exact benefits or a timeline of incorporation of benefits.
According to Ms. Thomas, the decision to change any benefit is based on treatment efficacy, cost, industry standards, importance to university employees and a recommendation by the Medical Benefits Advisory Committee (MBAC). The committee is comprised of 16 professionals (10 men, 6 women) who are employed as doctors, lawyers, and professors who volunteer their time to give expertise evaluation regarding medical treatments and coverage. This group has discussed fertility treatment benefits at each of their last four meetings, hearing expert testimony and conducting extensive research. Thomas conveyed that additional research is required and asked that we not to petition MBAC directly.
Time is critical for individuals who require assistance getting pregnant. Because the decision to expand benefits ultimately rests with Laurita Thomas, we need your support in encouraging her to take action in extending fertility treatments to University of Michigan employees as quickly as possible. We are reaching out to community organizations requesting their support be voiced to Laurita Thomas (laurita@umich.edu). We encourage you to write letters to Thomas supporting our campaign.
Please go to our Facebook page for answers to frequently asked questions about fertility treatments and coverage. Type “Fertility Justice” into the Facebook search bar & look for a happy uterus. You can also email womenschair@geo3550.org
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