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The state of Tennessee has hired a private company, Secova, to "audit" dependent insurance coverage for all state employees, including higher education staff and faculty.

In order to perform this audit, Secova is requiring state employees who pay for spouse or family coverage to provide proof of relationships and eligibility, including but not limited to income tax forms, marriage certificates, proof of home ownership, and birth certificates. If employees do not return the survey by the deadline of September 4, 2009, or if the documentation doesn't meet the audit's standards, dependents will be dropped from coverage. The surveys were mailed out on July 6. The arrival of these surveys comes at a time when faculty with 9-month appointments may be away from home during the summer doing research or pursuing their own continuing education. For staff, late summer prior to the start of the fall term is one of the few times many are able to schedule vacations. Additionally, many employees report that the surveys appear to be junk mail upon arriving at their home addresses.

Dependents that are dropped can be reinstated, but there's a catch- a big one. Requests for reinstatement will be treated as "late applicants," will be assessed a $75 non-refundable application fee, and will be required to fill out a health questionnaire. Based on the answers to that questionnaire, these so-called "late applicants" may or may not be accepted for coverage.

United Campus Workers calls on the state of Tennessee and its elected officials to do everything they can to extend the September 4th deadline by several months. Additionally, TBR and UT system officials and campus human resources staff must do more to ensure the delivery of education and assistance to all affected higher education employees. This additional time is absolutely necessary to ensure that all higher education employees have access to proper assistance and educational materials about the audit. It is not feasible to think that these efforts will be successful prior to the start of fall term at college and university campuses across Tennessee.