The comprehensive Health and Dental Benefits Plan currently covers the following:

• Prescription medication
• Dental visits
• Massage therapy
• Chiropractor
• Physiotherapy
• Athletic therapy
• Podiatry
• Naturopath
• Professional counseling
• Vision care
• Travel

Eligibility is determined by the number of credits you are registered in at the end of September; F/T equals full-time and means you are registered in 3.5 or more credits and P/T equals part-time and means you are registered in 3.0 credits or less. If eligible, you will automatically be charged for, and enrolled into, the TCSA Benefits Plan.

Eligible

• Consecutive Education F/T and P/T (September start only)
• Undergraduate F/T (September start only)
• Graduate Studies F/T (Sept. or January start)

Not Eligible:

• Undergraduate P/T
• Undergraduate January Start F/T OR <­strong>P/T
• Oshawa Campus Students (50% or more of course load taken in Oshawa)
• Graduate Studies P/T
• ESL F/T or P/T

Specific Student Status Information

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES: Students, who are taking a reduced course load to accommodate their disability, are equivalent to full-time but are billed as part-time and therefore are not automatically billed for, nor registered into, the TCSA Benefits Plan. If you are considered full-time as a disability accommodation, you have the option of opting-in to the TCSA Benefits Plan. To do so you must complete an opt-in form during the opt-in/opt-out period in September, or within 30 days of losing alternative coverage.

EXCHANGE STUDENTS: If you go on exchange abroad you will pay into the TCSA Benefits Plan through your fees paid to Trent, however those fees will be used to enroll your exchange partner in the TCSA Benefits Plan. This means that you will not be enrolled in the plan, nor can you opt-out of the plan. In addition, if you had opt-out status in the years prior to going on exchange, that status will no longer be valid and you must opt-out of the plan again when you return to Trent (during the opt-out period) if you wish to waive your benefits.

YEAR ABROAD STUDENTS: If you are studying abroad you will not be charged the TCSA Benefits Plan fees by Trent. You will not be enrolled in the plan and therefore cannot opt-out of the plan. In addition, if you had opt-out status in the years prior to going abroad, that status will no longer be valid and you must opt-out of the plan again when you return to Trent (during the opt-out period) if you wish to waive your benefits.

Eligible students pay $262 as an annual levy fee for TCSA Health and Dental Benefits Plan ($150 for health and $112 for dental).

For eligible students starting in the fall semester, coverage begins September 1st and ends August 31st of the following year. Students are however affected by a blackout period that prevents them from utilizing the Benefits Plan until approximately mid-October. Although the plan cannot be utilized until the blackout period is over, students are considered covered from September 1st on, and therefore receipts can be saved and submitted once the blackout period is over. Students can be activated on the plan earlier by completing an Early Activation Request form (available from the TCSA Benefits Office) if they experience a medical and/or financial emergency. For eligible students starting in the winter semester, coverage begins January 1st and ends August 31st of that same year.

Yes! Each benefit year has an opt-out/opt-in period that runs approximately from the first week of September until the last Friday in September. Students can waive benefits, opt-in to the plan or add dependents. The deadline for the 2010-2011 academic year is October 1st, 2010. This is an important deadline that cannot be extended.

TCSA members are given one opportunity, each September, to opt-out of the Health and/or Dental Plans if they have existing comparable coverage. Students can choose to opt out of Health or Dental Benefits or both; depending on their existing coverage and insurance needs. Students wishing to opt out can do so by completing the online waiver form. This option is active only during the opt-out period.

The opt-out deadline is advertised every year via Trent e-mail and the student handbook. The opt-out deadline for the 2010-2011 academic year is October 1st, 2010. It is the responsibility of the student to complete the opt-out process by the advertised deadline.

Approval of waiver forms will result in the plan fee being refunded. Students may choose to either receive a refund cheque which they can pick-up from the TCSA Benefits Office or have the refund directly deposited into their bank account. Students have 6 months to deposit refund cheques before they become stale dated. The TCSA will reprint stale dated cheques less a $2.00 administration fee.

Once a student has opted-out of the plan(s) their opt-out status will be valid for the remainder of their time at Trent University provided they remain eligible TCSA members and there is neither an interruption in their studies nor a change in student status (e.g. falling below 3.5 credits per year).

Returning students who had opt out status last year will have their op tout status carry forward automatically, however, if you want your opt out cheque refund directly deposited you must opt out again before the October 1st deadline so that we have your banking information.

Students that have waived their benefits can opt back in to the plan if they lose their alternative coverage. Students must opt into the plan within 30 days of losing alternative coverage or during the opt-out/opt-in period, which runs the month of September each year.

Students may purchase coverage for spouses and/or dependents (children) online. A dependent spouse includes heterosexual and same-sex, married and common-law partners with whom the student has been living in a conjugal relationship for a period of twelve months. Dependent children are eligible for coverage up to the end of the benefit year in which they turn age twenty-one, or twenty-five if enrolled full-time at an accredited college, university or educational institution.

The deadline for adding family benefits to your plan is the same as the opt-out deadline, or within thirty days of losing alternative coverage or adding a family member (i.e. getting married or having a child).

The TCSA is pleased to offer eligible members, who remain on the health plan, coverage for new prescription glasses and contact lenses. This coverage will be managed in-house, so claims and questions about this coverage may be directed to:

Tracy Milne
Benefits Administrator
Trent Central Student Association
Champlain College Room S110
748-1107
benefits@trentcsa.ca

Students are eligible to receive $80 every 24 months towards new prescription glasses or contact lenses purchased between September 1, 2010 and August 31st, 2011. All claim forms and receipts must be received at the TCSA Benefits Office no later than November 30, 2011. Refunds are typically available within two weeks of submission.

If you have any questions or concerns about the TCSA Benefits Plan you may contact:

Tracy Milne, Operations Manager and Benefits Administrator
Champlain College, Room S109
Phone: 705-748-1107
Fax: 705-748-1108
Email: benefits@trentcsa.ca

Questions about claims or coverage may be directed to:

ACL Student Benefits
1 Yonge Street, Suite 1200
Toronto, ON M5E 1E5
Toll Free: 1-800-315-1108
Phone: (416) 216-0296 ext. 223
Fax: (416) 216-1179

Email: help@wespeakstudent.com