Western Kentucky University and its health insurance provider the Chickering Group may be breaking the law by billing students for insurance without their consent, according to the Kentucky Department of Insurance. DOI spokesman Roger Snell said an investigation into Western and Chickering was launched after Western senior Michael Lamont of Boston filed a formal complaint. We are investigating the formal complaint, Snell said. We are also looking into whether or not the Chickering Group is licensed to sell insurance in the state of Kentucky. Chickering Executive Vice President Paul Silva said it has a licensed agent in Kentucky and has provided that information to DOI attorney Pamela Farmer. He declined to give the agents name. Snell said Western is cooperating in the investigation. Western implemented the procedure of billing for insurance along with tuition this semester, after Western signed a contract with New York-based Collegiate Health Care Service to provide health care services for the university. Cambridge Mass.-based Chickering is Collegiates health insurance provider, Collegiate President Sam Makris said. Chickering advises Collegiate how to set up the billing, he said. Chickering has one of the best reputations of insurance providers across the country and I feel confident the claim will be resolved. Students have been sent a soft waiver card along with their tuition bill, said Belinda Higginbotham, university bursar. If they dont fill out and return the card stating they dont want the insurance, they automatically will be billed $392 for a basic policy. Snell said he was uncomfortable with the practice of mandating coverage unless one opts out. Thats pretty common practice throughout the entire country, Silva said. Those are procedures set forth by the universities. Those arent our procedures, they are university procedures that we administrate for them. A lot of schools have a hard waiver policy. In fact, it is less likely that they will have a softer policy like Westerns, where it is not enforced. Debra Wilkins, Westerns attorney, said she has reviewed the statute and does not believe the universitys procedure is out of place. I dont think what we are doing is contrary to the law, she said. But we are going to change this. We made that decision long before this came up. In the future, if you want insurance, youll have to initiate the process.