The Graduate Students’ Association (GSA) will be launching a referendum at the end of March to request another levy increase on the cost of the health insurance they provide to students. If the referendum passes, graduate students would see a $20 increase in premium fees.
Taylor Howarth, vice-president (finance) for the GSA, said that a levy is the only way for them to provide the same level of coverage they offer currently.
“It’s a non-for-profit plan in terms of health, dental and accident and our claims continue to increase, which means that people are using it . . . and therefore, being a non-for-profit plan, the use by our members is exceeding the premium,” Howarth said.
Just last year, a similar referendum was held by the GSA, where costs for the plan rose by $70 from $298 to $368.
Howarth said the past levy fell short in that it was not tied to the Consumer Price Index, and added the CPI is a feature of many standard insurance plans and measures the changes in the price paid for services by consumers over time.
She said in past years, the GSA has had to absorb the cost difference in CPI, and that it is not sustainable.
“Our premiums have to go up to maintain what we have,” Howarth said.
This referendum is the latest in a series of changes to student insurance on campus.
Although the GSA remains with Green Shield, the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) broke their contract with the insurance provider in 2012. This split led to a legal battle, which saw the GSA and CUSA sue each other over the undergraduate student union’s choice to switch to Studentcare.
The CUSA health plan costs undergraduate students $192 per year, according to the association’s president Fahd Alhattab. He said this is because the undergraduate student body is larger than the graduate student body so risk is spread out, brining the cost down.
He added graduate students are sometimes also parents, which could lead to them making more insurance claims through the plan.
As for any future levies, Howarth said it will be dependant on consumer demand.
“From Green Shield’s point of view, they provide us amazing service . . . but at the bottom line, they don’t want to lose money on their end because they have operating costs,” she said.
