By Elizabeth Hinojos 

Health care premiums for employees of American higher-education institutions are on the rise, according to a survey, and the University of Texas is implementing a slightly higher premium for employees this year.

The College and University Professional Association for Human Resources surveyed 415 colleges and universities nationwide; of which 24 percent were private religious institutions, 28 percent were private institutions and 48 percent were public. UT did not participate in the survey.

The cost of the University‘s health care plan increased by a few dollars, according to the University’s Human Resource Services website. In terms of medical out-of-pocket cost for full-time employees, the cost of insurance for subscriber and spouse increased by $9.48 per month. The cost for subscriber and children increased by $9.91 per month, and the cost for subscriber and family increased by $18.66 per month.

“The increases are less for next year than I thought they were going to be, to tell you the truth,” said David Warner, a public affairs professor who specializes in health insurance and health finance.

There was talk during the most recent legislative session of substantial cuts in the amount the University would cover, Warner said. He said he expected there to be a much higher deductible or much higher premium compared to last year.

“Costs will have a relatively modest increase at least from the point of view of UT employees,” he said.

With health care costs on the rise, not all colleges are managing to extend benefits to partners and spouses of employees. Of colleges participating in the survey, 56 percent offer benefits to same-sex partners of employees, and 43 percent do so for opposite-sex partners, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Samantha Perry, current chair of the Competitive Insurance Benefits Committee for the Pride and Equality Faculty and Staff Association, said the former chair had several talks with UT President William Powers Jr. last year regarding bereavement leave benefits.

“Leave policies are under final legal review with the University with sick and bereavement leave [included]. The policies are basically sitting on the desk of the administration [and have been] since last fall,” Perry said.

The issue the administration is citing is they’re getting budget cuts, she said, but the benefits the committee is asking for would let the partner pay money into the UT system for benefits. She said the committee’s only options are to ask for benefits and demonstrate that the University is losing faculty and staff and, eventually, students.

Keith Walters, an applied linguistics professor at Portland State University, and the former associate director of UT’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies, said in a 2008 report by the insurance benefits association that he left the University because “the administration had no interest in finding a way to provide benefits for the partners of lesbian and gay staff and faculty.”

Human Resource Services workers have written and submitted draft leave policies which are currently in the review process. This involves a review by a policy committee made up of employees from across campus. The draft will also require legal review and a review by the UT System, said Debra Kress, acting director for Human Resource Services.

“[Domestic leave] programs to support employees with family problems shouldn’t stop with a marriage certificate,” said Julien Carter, former associate vice president for Human Resource Services, to The Daily Texan in December 2010. “These safety net programs need to be expanded to cover modern definitions of what a family is. It comes down to issues of fairness and equity,”