By David Dyck

Simon Fraser Student Society health plan will change from Sun Life to Desjardins

At a Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS) board of directors meeting two weeks ago, the board decided to move forward with negotiating a new contract for the undergraduate health and dental plan. The board cited a cheaper rate and an increase in student claims as the reason why they were switching from Sun Life to Desjardins, to take effect in the fall.

Although the society is getting a cheaper rate per student, students will actually see very little change in the short term. The rate that each undergraduate pays each semester is set at $198, and that amount has been set by referendum. However, since the offer from Desjardins is below $198 per student over two years, this will give the society a reserve fund to build up over time.

“That was our idea and our logic behind it, and that’s why we wanted to build up funds, because there are countless opportunities in which we could use or implement these funds for future students,” said Humza Khan, the SFSS member services officer.

Khan told The Peak that since 2008 when the society began the health and dental plan until 2011, the number of claims has gone up significantly. “At this trend, right now, no insurance company is going to want to work with us because we’re only charging $198, whereas the claims we do are way above that. So insurance companies know beforehand that if they work with us they’re going to be going into a loss.”

According to Khan, the society was faced with two options: to go back to referendum and raise the amount that each student paid, or to cut benefits. “If a certain benefit is no longer there, then no one can claim it, and that would have cut down our costs.”

But Khan said that he preferred not to do either of those things, opting instead to change providers entirely from Sun Life to Desjardins, a company that is “relatively new to the healthcare industry, and they want to expand westwards. . . . Knowing that SFU is such a big market — 30,000 plus students — in a competitive marketplace these days, they want to excel, and that’s why they came up with a very competitive price that no other provider could beat. From their perspective it’s probably an investment, from our perspective we’re getting the best deal, so it works out for everytone.”

This deal was brokered with the help of studentcare.net/works, a company made up of former student politicians that liaises between the student society and the insurance company. Khan said that they’re an important component of the society.

“It’s really essential that student care or a middle party has one representative from each institution, for example SFU, that comes back to us and teaches us what previous boards have done and how we need to carry out our duties. They’re not just a middle person, they’re a guide as well.”