by SARA ARMSTRONG
news editor

The Higher Education Policy Commission entered into lengthy debate June 29 over the allocation of funds to offset the Board of Risk and Insurance Management premiums for the next fiscal year.

The debate was over two conflicting proposals in how to divide the money between state schools.

The budget request higher education officials submitted to legislators included more than $2 million for BRIM, but the legislature created line items for credits to the medical schools at Marshall, West Virginia University and the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine to cover the increasing malpractice premiums. Marshall received $627,468 as part of the allocation.

One proposal would penalize Marshall and WVU for that allocation by giving them no extra funds to cover non-medical insurance costs. The remaining funds would be divided among the other state schools still leaving them with a 7 percent increase in premiums to pay on their own.

The other proposal calls for all state institutions to receive part of the allocated funds. With this option all institutions except the medical schools would have to take care of paying a 33.84 percent increase in premiums.

Marshall and WVU issued their position statement aligning their support of the second proposal.

"[Proposal two] in the HEPC's "BRIM Credit" agenda item proportionately, and fairly, allocates the remaining BRIM funding among all institutions, with each institution, including the universities' main campus programs taking a reduction," the statement said.

During the past two years, Marshall's premium has gone up $400,000 and the school expects a $600,000 increase in insurance premium costs, Jim Schneider, associate dean of the School of Medicine, said.

"We are facing about a $1 million increase from two years ago," Schneider said.

"Even if the approach in [Proposal two] is used, Marshall and WVU will still have experienced a reduction in their BRIM credits over the last three years of more than 33%, which is more than what the other institutions will face for the first time," the statement said.

Schneider said that the medical school will be cutting expenditures and passing on a chunk of the costs to physicians as well as not renewing a number of positions. Overall there has been a 9.45 percent increase in premiums, a total increase of $753,959.

OPINION

Parents are so
hard to train
these days

Summertime
not always
fun for students

Behind the Herd

Web site designed and maintained by James Harris, online editor.