Plan Design Changes

The Trustees reviewed the plan designs to determine whether any changes should be made in September. The latest delistings and deletions from provincial Medicare plans figured prominently in the discussions, and the following changes to our plans were agreed:

  • Vision Care. For those schools that take our vision care plan, eye examinations will now be included within the $200 limit.
  • Physiotherapy. A $500 annual maximum will now apply to the Standard and Retiree health plans. The coverage under the flex plans does not change.

    • A new ‘managed formulary’ for our prescription drug benefit was considered. While this was felt to be consistent with the survey results from two years ago, the decision was to wait since the technology is still new and largely untested. The basic idea is that the plan will encourage people to use the lowest priced drug that could address their condition, rather than the latest and most expensive. This option will be monitored.
    The Trustees are exploring the idea of adding an optional healthcare spending account to the plan. This arrangement would enable a school to set cash into an account for each covered person, so that employees could pay for things not covered by the main plan. It is a very interesting and very tax-effective concept. Should the Trustees decide healthcare spending accounts are feasible and beneficial, they would likely be made available in September 2006.

    Full Issue: No. 294 - April 6, 2005

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