Campus Trust Conference

Hello all,

Here goes my update from the Union Services office! So about a week ago, Sean, Julieanne and I travelled to St. John’s, Newfoundland to attend the Assembly of Participating Organizations for the Campus Trust (our Health and Dental plan program!). Not only was this my first time in Newfoundland (and was I ever in awe!) but it was an amazing opportunity to better understand the Campus Trust and get to know the other board members that we will be working with throughout the year.

While at the conference, we attended presentations surrounding the Trust and other aspects of Health and Dental plans on campuses across Canada. I’m going to let you folks in on a little secret—we are a part of a pretty amazing thing happening in the Student Health and Dental plan realm across the country.  I hope to tell you all a little bit more about this amazing thing known as the Campus Trust.

So what is the Campus Trust? A Board of Trustees comprised of representatives (students and staff) from 9 Student Unions and Associations from across Canada manages the Campus Trust. As Trustees, it is our goal to provide the best plan possible with the investment that students make when they opt into our Health and Dental Plan. While many Health and Dental plans are shaped exclusively by the Insurance Companies or Brokers which provide them, members of the Campus Trust have the unique opportunity to take our plans into our own hands—that means we can determine the coverage that we need and the companies that can best provide this. While decision making is executed in a co-operative structure, each member association has the opportunity to shape their plan to fit the needs of their own student body—that means theU’s plan is specifically tailored to fit our student community here at X. This is an awesome aspect of the Trust—we have the power of the collective, but the space to make decisions that directly affect our own student body.

From a Students’ Union point of view, accountability and transparency are of upmost importance in providing any sort of service for students. Another great thing about the Trust is that it provides just this. Foremost, each member association has access to detailed reports on the claims history of their plan, including what benefits are being accessed the most and which months are higher in terms of use. This means that we know how our benefits are being used and how to continue to make adjustments to the plan to benefit students.

The structure of the Trust also allows for greater control over price fluctuations. While many plans are subject to increases in price each year designated by the insurance provider or broker, member schools of the Campus Trust have the ability to manage the benefits on individual school plans to better accommodate for these changes so that the rate that students pay remains fairly stable.

Lastly, a goal of the Campus Trust schools is to have the Health and Dental plans  break even (so that the amount of money paid into the plan is equal to the amount in claims). However, because of the natural fluctuations in claims that occur from year to year, this is not always the case.  With many other school plans, the insurance company or broker manages this surplus, with little to no input from the Students’ Union or Association. The cool thing about the Trust is that any surplus we may have at the end of the year goes back into our plan so that we can provide additional coverage to our students.

All the members of the Campus Trust 

So why does all this matter? Each year when you opt into theU’s Health and Dental plan, you can rest assured that you are going to receive a great service—not only because the Trust gives us the ability to offer some great (and diverse!) coverage, but also because you know that through every step of the process, the students’ best interests are what matter most!

Until next time,

Amy