To: Graduate Students, Memorial University of Newfoundland
From: Health and Dental Committee, Graduate Students’ Union Office
Date: January 13, 2023                        
Subject: GSU Winter 2023 Health and Dental Insurance Newsletter

Dear Graduate Students,
Through this newsletter, we would like to highlight some essential points on Winter 2023 Health and Dental Insurance plan processing. We are beginning to start accepting opt-in/opt-out applications for Winter 2023 term starting midnight January 09, 2023. The online applications will be available until 12:00 pm, January 31st, 2023.

Important updates:

A] New rates for Academic year 2022-2023:

As per new plan selected through referendum, academic year 2022-2023, students will notice updated rates on their MUN Self-Service financial summary due to the implementation of plan A in the system. Students need to pay as per new plan rate for the Fall and future semesters. To verify, you can simply divide the individual new rate into three equal parts (Cost Breakdown Per Semester: Health: 196.28 and Dental: 105.12). Other rates for the couple and family plan are also mentioned in the following tables.

  Old Rates New Rates Residual Cost
  Individual Couple Family Individual Couple Family Individual Couple Family
Health 440.64 387.12 393.12 588.84 526.8 534.84 148.2 139.68 141.72
Dental 249.48 249.12 375.6 315.36 315.36 475.44 65.88 66.24 99.84
Overall 690.12 636.24 768.72 904.2 842.16 1010.28 214.08 205.92 241.56

 

B] Refund process for pending 20%:

We understand that students have questions about the new plan design changes and how to use their insurance or make claims as per new/revised plan with no copay. As of today, we have been informed by Greenshield that the new plan is implemented effective December 14th (retroactive to Sept 1st) in Greenshiled system. This means if you submitted any claim after December 14th, they should be processed as per the new plan with 100% coverage. As for students that had claims paid with a service date between September 1st, 2022 and December 14th,  they are currently being reviewed by Greenshiled administration and further steps on receiving refund for the claims will communicated to the members shortly.

Important Notes from Greenshields:

 For claim reprocessing:  1-888-711-1119

Any student that requires an adjustment should call GSC and ask to reprocess their claim.

If the claim was payable to the provider, student will need to send GSC a copy of their receipts – the Call Centre Agent will provide instruction to the caller.

When the student calls us – they will be asked to provide the following information:

GSC ID number
Type of Claim (ie. Dental, etc)
Date of Service

C] Open House Session:

We are also holding open house walk-in session for all graduate students on Friday, January 20, 2023 between 9:00 am to 3:00 pm where you can get answers to your Health and Dental Insurance plan related queries.

Following are the relevant websites for making a formal application to Health and Dental committee for insurance opt-outs.

  • Opt-ins: https://gsumun.ca/opt-in/
  • Opt-outs: https://gsumun.ca/opt-outs/

GSU Guidelines for Opt-In/Opt-Out Process:

Opt-Out Procedure:

  • The student must provide proof of existing insurance coverage in order to opt-out. Please note that MCP on its own is not an acceptable form of alternative coverage.
  • Students are required to opt-out from the GSU plan at the beginning of every academic year.
  • Circumstances in which opt-out can be processed irrespective of the enrollment semester are:
    • The student has moved back to the home country due to the current pandemic situation, and the GSU insurance is no longer valid for the student.
    • The student has started working with an employer and receives alternative insurance coverage from the employer within the academic year.
    • The student status has changed from full-time to part-time

Opt-Ins Procedure:

  • Family Opt-Ins are strongly advised to be conducted at the beginning of the academic year. Students wishing to add family members to the plan in the Winter/Spring terms must get permission from the plan administrator to do so, and without extenuating circumstances must pay the fee for the full year regardless of when they joined.
  • Student eligibility to add dependents beyond Fall semester is assessed when the opt-in form is submitted. Appropriate documentation must be submitted to support the claims made.
  • Note to the student that the student’s own insurance is separate from the family and that, while they are charged each semester on their student account, the family payment will have to be paid in full up front.
  • The coverage needs to be renewed every fall semester by contacting the H&D office and making payment. It does not happen automatically.

Other important points to remember:

The domestic students are automatically opted-in for Greenshield Canada health and dental insurance if they are full-time graduate students. But, if that is not the case by default, the students should contact H&D office for the opt-in. If an international student has successfully opted-out from the Foreign Health Insurance, they will be automatically transferred to the Greenshield Canada insurance for their individual coverage. For family coverage, they will have to follow the dependent opt-in procedure. Please keep the opt-out acknowledgment email and validate that this email specifies GSU as the organization, not MUNSU.

Incorrectly selecting the MUNSU Health and Dental Plan will not opt you out of the GSU Health and Dental plan, and the insurance charges will remain on your account. Students who opt-out in the Fall semester will automatically be opted out again in the following Winter and Spring semesters. Opt-out statuses reset every September so students will need to opt-out at least every academic year (September). Students who are approved for Opt-out in Fall term can choose to either pay their full tuition minus the H&D fees (they shouldn’t be charged the late payment fee) or to pay everything (their accounts will be credited for the next semester).

Sincerely,
Graduate Students’ Union
Memorial University of Newfoundland
Field Hall, 216 Prince Philip Drive GH-2007,
St. John’s, NL A1B 3R5