Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) has proposed ending the current health plan to sign a 5-year plan with Student Care Networks.
In switching health plans, CUSA would end the plan they’ve shared with the Graduate Students’ Association (GSA) since 2000.
The current provider is Morneau Sheppell Inc, which has offered coverage with no increase in cost for the past 12 years, said GSA president Kelly Black.
Undergraduate students tend to make fewer claims than graduate students, thus undergrad students share the insurance costs of grad students, according to CUSA’s membership advisory.
If the GSA were to find separate coverage, the cost savings for CUSA would be $800,000, CUSA vice-president (finance) Michael De Luca said.
“That’s not how we want to proceed: pitting graduate and undergraduate students against each other,” Black said.
At CUSA’s Board of Directors meeting July 24, the proposed provider, Student Care Networks, promised to establish 10 practitioners in Ottawa, and would be fined if they did not keep their promise, GSA vice president (external) Anna Goldfinch said.
Student Care Networks does not currently have a practitioner based in Ottawa and would have to establish one, she said, adding that the company did not provide written support for their claims.
Students will save $17.30 per year while maintaining identical coverage and having enhanced member services like mailed opt-out cheques and a mobile application to make claims, De Luca said.
The GSA cautioned against brokerage and insurance companies that have low costs in the first year of a deal, but increase rates in the second and third years of a deal.
“Perhaps the premiums in the first year might be lower but we’re walking into unknown waters. And CUSA would be locked into it for five years,” Goldfinch said.
According to De Luca, the Morneau Sheppel contract was signed last year by past vice president (finance) Karim Khamisa and past vice president (internal) Ariel Norman, was in “bad faith,” and anyone privy to the process may be personally liable for their actions.
“The only way for CUSA to move forward and get our students a better health plan would be to breach or repudiate the Morneau contract. In the end however, that decision would be perfectly legal, save our students money and enhance the service of their student health plan,” De Luca said.
The GSA said there is a risk of being held liable for premiums of two different plans, according to its membership advisory.
Although CUSA would not reveal the broker for a different plan or any details unless the GSA agreed to break the existing contract, the GSA has ensured graduate students will have the plan August 15 when opt-outs begin, Black said.
The GSA and CUSA are divided over whether the proposed change requires a referendum.
A paragraph under ‘Duration and Termination’ of the current plan says, “The students through a legally constituted referendum or other lawful process pursuant to the rules and bylaws governing both the Carleton University Students’ Association and the Graduates Student Association vote to discontinue the Health and Dental Plan.”
De Luca said a referendum would only be required if CUSA were to end having a health plan completely.
“The only legal way is that the membership holds a referendum,” Black said.
“The GSA is not convinced that what [De Luca is] doing will save students money. You can’t do a cost-benefit analysis on a [lawsuit].”
