Lower Costs of STD Screenings at the LC Student Health Center

The Lewis & Clark College Student Health Service provides access to basic health care to students of the three Lewis & Clark schools. Their stated goal is to "provide safe, quality health care for students in the Lewis & Clark community" (www.lclark.edu/offices/student_health_services/). One facet of that health care is STI screening.

Most students are surprised to learn the high cost of STI screenings at the LC Student Health Center. The average combination of tests can cost between $181.84 and $215.02. This cost is not a fault of the Student Health Center; they simply don't have enough funding to significantly lower the cost of STI screenings. In the 2014-2015 school year, the total estimated cost for STI screenings was $27,687.53 (numbers provided by the Lewis & Clark Student Health Service). 

While it is true that students who are on the school-sponsored insurance plan can be 100% reimbursed for their STI screening costs, those students make up only about 30% of the student body. Furthermore, while it may be the case that students on other insurance plans could also get their testing costs reimbursed, the majority of students receive their health insurance through their parents - many students would feel uncomfortable submitting STI screening for reimbursement that would then be visible to their parents. Students deserve low-cost access to reproductive health care on their own college campus, free from concern of judgment. 

This petition and those who have signed it state their support for lowering the cost of STI screenings at the Lewis & Clark College Student Health Service and ask that the school take action and appropriately allocate funding in order to lower that cost. 

Nora Meyers Sackett    Contact the author of the petition