As a student, you automatically pay a premium to the Graduate Student’s Union (GSU) to receive health and dental insurance (although you can choose to opt out of the GSU dental plan).  As a Teaching Assistant or Course Instructor you are eligible for a $500 dental rebate administered by the University if you work over 50 hours from September 1, 2007 until August 31, 2008.  As a CUPE 3902 member, you are also eligible for a Health Care Spending Account in the amount of $300 for additional medical (or dental) expenses if you work more than 50 hours.

NO.  You cannot use your dental rebate to pay the premium on your GSU dental insurance. The CUPE Dental Rebate can only be used for actual dental work (although this can include any service provided by a dentist - even teeth whitening and orthodontics). You can use the Rebate to cover services not covered by the GSU dental plan, or you can submit your dental receipts first to the GSU plan for partial coverage and then resubmit to the CUPE rebate to cover the rest (you will get a statement from Greenshield, the GSU dental provider, showing how much of the claim has been paid and how much is left). Or you can choose to opt out of the GSU dental plan to get your premium reimbursed.

No.  You do not pay a premium on these plans.  They are available to you as a benefit of being an employee at the University covered by CUPE 3902.  You can choose not to use them, but they are yours as a benefit. 

Yes.  It is a good idea to do so as it maximizes your benefits.  The GSU dental plan will reimburse you 70% for most dental work and the Dental Rebate will cover you 100% up to $500.  Visit your dentist, pay up front and then submit your original receipts (make a photocopy for your own records) to the GSU Dental Insurer and you will receive a cheque in the mail from the insurance provider for the 70%.  At that time, submit the Dental Rebate Request Form with the receipt from the insurance provider that came with your cheque along with a photocopy of the original receipt.

No.  Your personnel number is different from your student number, it is a unique identifier that the University uses to identify you as an employee, rather than a student.  You can find your personnel number at the bottom of your paystubs beside pers.no.

No.   Your green and white Greenshield card is for your Health Care Spending Account.

The HCSA is an additional pool of money that you can use for medical and/or dental expenses, beyond your GSU health insurance and your dental rebate.  You can use it to pay for (among other things) prescription medicines, eye glasses, and/or additional dental expenses. Enrolment in the HCSA is automatic, if you are employed. As of September 1, 2007, you will have $300 in your HCSA.  You can add on your spouse and/or children to your HCSA for additional money to be available to them.  As of September 1, 2007 your spouse is eligible for $300 and the same amount is available for any dependent children.

On our website there is a Health Care Spending Account change/enrollment form that you must fill out to add on your dependents in order to make claims for them.  It is also available in our office.  Fill it out and submit it to our office or to Human Resources at 215 Huron Street on the 8^th floor.  The University needs to process the form first, do not send it directly to Greenshield.

The HCSA can also be used to reimburse you for your GSU health and/or dental insurance premium.  It is not possible to opt-out of the GSU health insurance as it is for the dental, so you end up paying a premium on it with your student fees.  You can get a receipt from the GSU for your payment towards the health insurance premium and submit it with your HCSA Claim form to the address that says Prof. Development.  You will then receive a cheque in the mail from Greenshield in the full amount.

It is the number on your green and white Greenshield card.  If you did not receive a card it is not a problem.  Your Greenshield ID number is the letters UOT followed by your personnel number.  You can find your personnel number on your paystubs at the bottom, beside pers.no.

Yes.  This is a good idea since the GSU health plan pays a percentage of your costs rather than 100%.  By combining them, you are maximizing your benefits.  If you were to file a claim with your GSU health plan, you can, at the same time, file the remainder with your HCSA.  Simply fill out the GSU health insurance paper and attach the original receipt, then attach a photocopy of that original receipt to your HCSA claim form identifying that you would like to claim the remainder of your original claim and then mail them both to the appropriate address at the bottom of the Greenshield forms.  There are separate addresses for different kinds of claims (for example, eye glasses prescription would be sent to the vision care address).

If you are claiming non-dental health expenses you can put the GSU form and the CUPE HCSA form in the same envelope (remembering to use the GSU ID number on the GSU form and the CUPE ID number on the CUPE form), and Greenshield should be able to process the primary claim on the GSU plan and the remainder on your HCSA.

The Greenshield card does not work for automated insurance claims like other insurance provider cards do.  You must pay up front for the expenses and then submit the HCSA claim form with the original receipt to the appropriate address on the form.

Your dental rebate does not come in the form of a cheque from an insurer, like your HCSA.  It is administered by the University.  It is possible that you received the money already, but you were unaware that it was added on to your paycheque.  Go back over your paystubs for the last few months and check for anything in the “other deductions and payments” section and see if it matches up to your dental rebate claim amount.  If you are still unsure as to whether or not you have received payment for this, contact Keithann Newton (U of T Benefits Administrator) at 416-978-4673.  If you do not receive a satisfactory answer, please contact us at our office 416-593-7057 and we will work to get it sorted out.

No.  You have to have the work done in the claim period of September 1, 2007 to August 31, 2008 and you can submit receipts up to 30 days after the end of the claim period.  If you do not use your whole dental rebate or HCSA you cannot carry it forward.

No. If you are employed again this year, you will be reenrolled automatically when you appear on payroll.

You are entitled to both the dental rebate and the HCSA.

Your dental coverage extends for the whole academic year, which means your period of entitlement begins on September 1, and you can see the dentist between September and January, but your claim will not be reimbursed until you have begun work in January and you have worked the minimum 50 hours.

However, your HCSA will only be set up when you appear on payroll. If this only happens in January, your entitlement period will only start then.  

Yes. Contact your Department Steward to help you get a receipt for your premium payment from the GSU, and then submit the receipt with the HCSA claim form. But you cannot opt-out of the GSU health insurance the way you can with the GSU dental plan (unless you have private health insurance).

NO. The HCSA is not an insurance plan, so it cannot take the place of one (students are required by law to be part of a health plan). Instead, you can use the HCSA to pay for your student health plan by claiming the premium: just get a receipt from the GSU, UTSU, SCSU, etc.