Today@Dal

The Dalhousie University Employee Benefits Committee (EBC) recently reviewed the annual renewal recommendations for the insured benefits program. Through this process the claims experience of each of the benefit plans were examined and the Committee agreed that the following premium rates are required, effective April 1, 2013.

A) Group Life Benefits (Manulife) - During the past fiscal year (2011-12), the claims experience of the plan has resulted in an increase of 15 percent in the contract rate. The university pays 100% of this premium and thus employees will see no change to their contributions.

B) Survivor Income Benefits (Manulife) - The claims experience for this plan increased  significantly over the past year and therefore the Committee accepted the insurer's recommendation of a 39.1 percent increase in the contract rate and a 15 percent increase in the remitted rate. This means that the monthly remitted rate will change from 0.167 percent to 0.192 percent. This benefit is cost shared 50/50 between the employee and the university. As a result, employees will see a slight increase to their monthly deduction.

For example, employees with a gross monthly salary of:
   $2,500 will see an increase of $0.31 per month        
   $5,000 will see an increase of $0.63 per month
   $7,500 will see an increase of $0.94 per month

C) Long Term Disability (Manulife) - The LTD claims experience has increased this past year. Therefore, the Committee agreed to increase the premium by 20 percent to 1.114 percent of salary.

For example, employees with an annual salary of:
   $30,000 will see an increase of $4.65 per month
   $60,000 will see an increase of $9.30 per month
   $90,000 will see an increase of $13.95 per month  

D) Major Medical Insurance (Medavie Blue Cross) - The Dalhousie Health plan is operated on an Administrative Services Only (ASO) basis. This means that the premium collected is used to pay the member's claims plus a fee for claims administration. This year there will be a decrease of 5.4 percent in the contributions for this plan. This benefit is cost shared 40/60 between the employee and the University and thus the following employee contribution rates will begin April 1, 2013. 
 
               Current Rates per Month     Effective April 1, 2013
Single                21.03                                  20.13
Family                60.17                                 57.39

E)  Health Travel Coverage (SSQ Financial Group) - The premium that members pay for travel coverage is included in the health rate and is based on an insured plan provided by SSQ. The Committee has accepted the rate increase requested by the insurer and proposed by the consultant which in this case is an increase of 49 percent. This means that the current single rate of $1.09 will increase to $1.62 of which 40% is paid by the employee. However, in combination with the decrease in major medical rates, the employee will not notice a significant change to their monthly deduction.

F)  Dental Plan (Medavie Blue Cross) - The Dalhousie Dental Plan is also administered on an Administrative Services Only (ASO) basis. This past year the experience, when combined with the projected claims experience for the 2012-13, resulted in a decrease of 3.4 percent that was approved by the Committee. Therefore, effective April 1st 2013, the following employee contribution rates will be in place. 

                                          Current Rates per Month     Effective April 1, 2013
Orthodontics           Single                 24.79                                23.95
                                Family                63.06                                60.91
Non Orthodontics    Single                 23.34                                22.54
                                Family                54.94                                53.07

G) There were no changes to the following insurance premiums:
• Accidental Death & Dismemberment
• Optional Life Insurance
• Voluntary Personal Accident Insurance
Employees will not see a change in these contribution amounts.

Note: Employees governed by the Civil Service Agreement at the Agricultural Campus are not impacted by the benefit renewals outlined above.

If you have any questions regarding your benefits, please call the Pensions and Employee Benefits office at 494-1122, or email benefits@dal.ca.