Naturally, this has led to speculation:
SL Trib Article wrote:The faith generally encourages its members to obtain government help for which they qualify before asking the church for assistance. Some BYU-Idaho students told The Tribune that staff at the Student Health Center believed the Church Board of Education in Salt Lake City made the decision. Other students and church members have wondered on social media whether BYU-Idaho doesn’t support students using Medicaid coverage because it covers birth control, abortions in extreme cases and some services to assist transgender individuals in transitioning.
The most recent statement from the university is totally bonkers:
After continued pushback from students, the Idaho campus sent out a second email Wednesday, suggesting for the first time that the decision was based on the state’s Medicaid expansion and a concern that students would overwhelm health care providers in the area.
The email said: “Due to the health care needs of the tens of thousands of students enrolled annually on the campus of BYU-Idaho, it would be impractical for the local medical community and infrastructure to support them with only Medicaid coverage.”
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare disputes that reasoning.
Wow, so what *is* the reason? Just to try to wring additional money out of the students? Or, is it really what people have already speculated: i.e., that the Church is so militantly opposed to birth control, abortion, and transgender issues that it is willing to send hundreds of students packing, because they can't afford the Church's pricy insurance? Very strange, in any case. And very rotten to be doing this right before the holidays.