AUSU Regretfully Informs Members of the Unsustainability of Health & Dental Plan
Dear AUSU Members,
On October 26, 2015 AUSU Council regretfully passed two motions of significance for students enrolled in the AUSU Health and Dental Plan.
Due to the increasing vulnerability and unsustainability of the health plan, AUSU had to make the unfortunate decision to begin the process of terminating the Health and Dental Insurance Service as provided through Gallivan & Associates and Great West Life.
The plan was rendered unsustainable due to low enrollment and high claims, resulting in large losses to the insurance company. We were faced with a situation in which even if we agreed to double the annual premium to members, we would still have to subsidize the premiums and experience shows that this cycle of claims outpacing premium would likely continue into future years.
Students enrolled in the plan on or before August 10, 2015 will not be impacted by this termination, and will continue to receive coverage for the full year for which they enrolled. Students enrolled in the plan on or after August 11, 2015 will continue to receive the benefit until August 31, 2016. These students have been contacted individually by AUSU and will be provided with a prorated premium refund for the months after that date. The plan will be fully closed on August 31, 2016.
We will immediately work with Athabasca University to stop accepting registrations into the plan, and then begin the process of individually contacting the affected members and refunding their premium. All administrative funds remaining in the Health and Dental Plan account will be allocated to the AUSU Awards Committee for use in an AUSU Healthcare Bursary, with preference given to students who were previously enrolled in the Health and Dental Plan.
On behalf of AUSU, we would like to express our deep regret for the inconvenience and disappointment this has caused. We have worked hard over the last six months to try to save this service, and we know how valuable it is to so many of our members.
Sincerely, Shawna Wasylyshyn,
AUSU President
********************************** Issued on behalf of AUSU Council
The Athabasca University Students’ Union (AUSU) is an independent, student-run society representing the undergraduate students of Athabasca University. We serve nearly 40,000 members annually in home-study locations across Canada and internationally. In any given month, our membership is about 26,000 active students.
COUNCIL
Shawna Wasylyshyn, President
Colleen Doucette, VP External
Brandon Simmons, VP Finance
Megan Daigneault
Philip Kirkbride
Kim Newsome
Pierre Plamondon
Tamra Ross
Laura Zhu
STAFF
Sarah Cornett - Executive Director/Voice Editor-in-Chief
Donette Kingyens – Communications and Member Engagement Coordinator
Karl Low - Voice Managing Editor
