Date:	February 1, 2016
To:	Colleagues who are members of UNITE HERE – Local 75
From:	Steve Dyce, Director, Benefits & Pension, Division of Human Resources & Equity
Cc:	HR Divisional Office – University Operations
Re:	Benefit changes effective January 1, 2016 and Benefit plan premiums for members of UNITE HERE – Local 75

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Changes recently negotiated to your Extended Health Care (EHC) Plan take effect January 1, 2016 and include the following plan improvements:

EHC Plan:

• New coverage for paramedical services of physiotherapy, registered massage therapy (RMT), and acupuncture (accredited by Acupuncturists of Ontario), to a combined annual maximum coverage of $300/year per covered person.
• New coverage for custom orthotics for 1 pair / year, to a maximum reimbursement of $200/ year per covered person.

Eligible claims under these improvements that were incurred after January 1, 2016, may now be submitted to Green Shield Canada for reimbursement.

As a result of these improvements, the full-time employee EHC monthly premium will increase from $16.08 to $18.82 for single coverage, and from $35.84 to $41.92 for family coverage.

These new premiums – split over your normal bi-weekly pay – will take effect in pay period 4 (pay date February 19th) even though your coverage is effective January 1, 2016.

For more information:

To review your benefits, please visit www.hrandequity.utoronto.ca and go to your employee group benefits section (‘Current Staff’ tab and click on the “Unionized Employees” link). If you have any questions, please contact benefits.help@utoronto.ca.

Green Shield Canada Plan Member Online services and direct deposit.

Now is a great time to enrol for Green Shield’s Plan Member Online services if you have not previously done so. Go to www.greenshield.ca and select ‘plan members’, and follow the registration process.

You will need to have your Green Shield ID card handy to provide your ID # and enter your name as it appears on your card.

Once enrolled, you can see your prior claims history, submit certain claims online, print a copy of your ID card, check for providers in your area, check coverage of drugs by DIN and also sign up for direct deposit of claims payments. Note that with direct deposit, Green Shield issues payment to your banking institution for deposit into your bank account at the same time as they produce your Explanation of Benefits (EOB) statement for the claim. Your banking institution may take up to 2 business days beyond the payment date on the EOB to deposit the funds in your account. If you still don’t see the funds in your account within five business days from the EOB payment date, you can contact Green Shield’s Customer Contact Centre and they will investigate for you.