GSS Health and Dental Insurance Referendum Q&A

GSS HEALTH AND DENTAL INSURANCE May 29, 2024 REFERENDUM Q&A

WELCOME! Kyla Turner, Executive Director Abby Fleck, Health and Dental Plans Coordinator Sam Fielder, Director of Finance (Board representative on the insurance negotiation team)

AGENDA 1. Who is affected by the referendum changes? 2. Why is the GSS hosting the 2024-25 Health and Dental referendum? 3. What are the referendum questions and options for 2024-25 coverage and rates 4. Review the coverage increase amounts and costs 5. Review options for stabilize fees or coverage to reduce summer referenda 6. Q&A!

WHO IS AFFECTED BY THE REFERENDUM All currently registered graduate students are eligible to vote in the referendum All full time, on-campus graduate students enrolled in the Fall 2024 term will be in the plan affected by the choice made in the referendum. All distance, co-op, and part time graduate students enrolled in Fall 2024 term will be affected by the choices made in the referendum if they opt in to GSS insurance All family members opted in to the plan in September 2024 will be affected by the choices made in the referendum.

WHY ARE WE HAVING A REFERENDUM Short answer? The cost of insurance is going up, and we need to know how our members want us to respond. Do we focus on consulting annually with members through referenda? OR Do we focus on keeping costs stable over time? Also, our insurance currently does not cover everything members want. Adding coverage means increasing costs. Long answer: - Insurance is going up across the board and expected to rise each year - The GSS Extended Health and Dental fees have not increased since 2021 - Our plan is lagging behind other student plans for dental, vision, physio, and gender affirming care coverage - The GSS is still committed to finding the best rates for our members as possible!

REFERENDUM QUESTION 1 BACKGROUND In the last three years, we ve been able to add in improved vaccine coverage and remove the requirement to get a referral from a doctor to access paramedical services like massage therapy and physiotherapy, while keeping fees stable for students. However, we have not been able to add in other coverage increases that our members want and need. Now, we d like to add in high-demand items to our insurance plan we ve heard repeatedly matter most to you. These include: - Gender affirming care - Eye exam coverage - Dental exam coverage - Physiotherapy coverage

REFERENDUM QUESTION 1 1. Do you support the following increases to the GSS Extended Health and Dental Plan (Check All That Apply) A. An increase to the Extended Health Fees of 2.0% to include gender affirming care B. An increase to the Extended Health Fees of 2.45% to include improved coverage for vision exams C. An increase to the Extended Health Fees of 7.85% to include improved coverage for physiotherapy D. An increase to the Dental Fees of 5.2% to include improved frequency of dental exams

PROSPECTIVE 2024/25 COVERAGE RATES Current Coverage Rates Potential Coverage Increase 9 month dental recall rate 6 month dental recall rate $75/24 months for eye exams $100/24 months for eye exams $250/year physiotherapy $500/year physiotherapy Gender affirming care

PROSPECTIVE 2024/25 COVERAGE RATES What is included in Gender Affirming Care? Procedures: Breast construction Chest Construction Vagina Construction Penis construction Hysterectomy Tracheal shaving Vocal surgery Reversal of gender affirming procedure Pre-surgical hair removal GA electrolysis or laser hair removal for face and/or chest Products: Bra inserts and bras for bra inserts Low body garment Gaff Packers phallus; securement; with Stand to Pee (STP) device Upper body garment Binder Vaginal dilator single kit.

REFERENDUM QUESTION 2 BACKGROUND Our members have repeatedly asked to get rid of summer referenda on Health and Dental Fees. We get it. Summer referenda suck. So, we ve got a few options to reduce the number of summer referenda. The first focuses on keeping costs stable. We d do this by increasing fees to a level where we don t expect another increase for 3-5 years. Moving to a stabilized rate is expected to provide us with significantly better rates over the next 3-5 years than if we continue with one-year renewals. Essentially, we d pay more now to save more in the long term. Alternatively, we can renew for one year and cover only the rate increase required to keep our coverage the same.

REFERENDUM QUESTION 2 Do you support: 1. Increasing the GSS Health and Dental Fees by 15.3% to stabilize current coverage rates and fees for the next 3-5 years. 2. Increasing the GSS Health and Dental Fees by 4.4% for 2024-25 and continue to vote annually on fee increases.

REFERENDUM QUESTION 3 BACKGROUND The second option to reduce summer referendum focuses on keeping insurance coverage stable by granting authority to the GSS to increase Extended Health and Dental fees by a max of BC CPI per year to maintain coverage. This means that if the increased cost for maintaining your current coverage comes in at less than the rate of inflation, the GSS will increase your fees by the true cost of insurance in order to maintain your coverage rates. If insurance costs rise faster than inflation, we hold a referendum to ask how members want us to proceed.

REFERENDUM QUESTION 3 If Question 2B passes, do you support the GSS having a mandate to increase GSS Extended Health and Dental fees by no more than BC CPI (inflation) each year in order to maintain insurance coverage? (Yes/No)

COMMON CONCERNS ABOUT THE INCREASE When did fees last go up? The GSS Extended Health and Dental fees have not increased since 2021. This is an unusually long time in the industry to not increase fees. Why didn t you look at other providers? We receive reduced costs for our loyalty to Pacific Blue Cross. We ve also seen massive success in working with our insurance broker, Aon, who have negotiated the last two plan renewals with no cost increase. Right now, our partnerships are working well for us. More importantly, the cost of taking our plan to market is about ~$20K, which Aon does not feel we can re-coup in savings on insurance costs.

FACTORS AFFECTING PLAN COSTS Plan usage in the past year General trends in health insurance costs Actuarial assessment of risk Projected administrative costs for the insurer (standard percentage of fees)

I FEEL STRONGLY ABOUT THIS. WHAT CAN I DO? Get out the vote! Encourage as many of your graduate student colleagues to vote on Simply Voting between June 5 at 9:00am and June 7 at 4:30pm PST. Unfortunately, the deadline to register to campaign has passed. But you do NOT have to register to campaign to share information about the referendum.

WHAT COMES NEXT? Regardless of the outcome of this referendum, the reality is that healthcare costs are increasing. We strongly encourage all eligible members to enrol in Fair Pharmacare and BC MSP Supplementary Benefits, which are the two major low-income healthcare cost assistance programs in BC. Fair Pharmacare helps pay for many prescription drugs, medical devices and supplies. The amount of support an individual can receive is tied to income. BC MSP Supplementary Benefits covers partial costs for acupuncture, chiropractic, massage therapy, naturopathy, physical therapy (physio), and non-surgical podiatry. You can apply for both with the BC Application for Health and Drug Coverage.

ANY QUESTIONS?

COMMON CONCERNS ABOUT THE INCREASE Why is it more expensive than UVSS/other GSSes? 1. We are also substantially smaller than UVSS or other GSSes, so we receive a smaller group discount rate. 2. The demographic of graduate students using this plan has different health and dental needs than undergraduate students (ie they are more likely to have more health care costs due to long-term health conditions, age, changing life stages, etc.) 3. Our plan also offers more flexibility of when people can opt in or out, which saves members money on the one hand, but increases the cost of the plan.