Brock students paying for university insurance should know what they’re getting: here’s an in-depth look at the Student Health Plan.
For any student, having the security of a university insurance plan can be incredibly comforting. But do you know exactly what that entails? And what about students who pay for coverage but already have insurance through their parents?
With the Sept. 30 opt-out deadline approaching, Brock students may be tempted to forgo this expense to save some money. While that might be the right decision for some, students should be informed about what it means to opt-out and what exactly they’re paying for if they decide not to.
While Brock itself has a plethora of health services for both mental and physical ailments on campus, accessible for every student who pays the mandatory Health Services Fee — the price of which ranges from $7.40 to $32.77 according to the 2024 fees for both undergraduate and graduate students — these are not the extent of student health coverage.
Beyond the care the university provides, there’s also off-campus services students get coverage for when they pay into BUSU’s Health and Dental Insurance plans through studentVIP, which costs a combined $343.30.
Drug Coverage
For the Student Health Plan’s drug coverage, Brock students can receive 50 to 100 per cent coverage depending on the drug and their provider, with the best coverage coming from Direct2U Prescriptions.
Drugs included are brand-name and generic drugs “which legally require a prescription” — with coverage applying to both but only for the cost of the lowest-priced option — standard preventative vaccines, contraceptives, diabetic supplies like test strips and needles, Hepatitis C medications up to $1,500 in a lifetime and smoking cessation aids and remedies up to $300 in a lifetime.
Drugs not covered under this plan are fertility drugs or treatments, Gardasil vaccines — for HPV prevention — anti-obesity drugs or products and erectile dysfunction drugs.
Dental Coverage
The BUSU dental insurance ranges from 15 to 80 per cent coverage and applies to various procedures.
Covered at 80 per cent are complete oral examinations once every five years, limited and recall examinations once every 12 months, complete series periapical or panoramic radiographs once every five years, bitewing radiographs once every 12 months, one 15-minute dental polishing unit every 12 months, two 15-minute scaling units every 12 months, fillings, extractions including wisdom tooth extractions, and anesthesia when in conjunction with surgical services. The last listed service, “other dental coverage” including endodontics and periodontics, is only covered at 25 per cent.
studentVIP strongly recommends that students get predeterminations from their dentists for extensive procedures to prevent unexpected costs, and any dental coverage required due to an accident is covered under accident coverage.
Vision Coverage
Brock students with vision impairments, not uncommon with the long hours of screentime inherent in students working at computers, can receive 80 per cent coverage through the BUSU Student Health Plan.
This covers eye examinations up to $150 per 24-month period as well as frames, lenses and contact lenses up to $200 per 24-month period.
Some specifics to this coverage are that frames, lenses and contact lenses must be purchased from a Canadian provider to be eligible, frames are only eligible if purchased in conjunction with prescription lenses, and that coverage excludes expenses incurred for non-corrective sunglasses and safety glasses.
Laser eye surgery is not covered.
Extended Health Coverage
Here is the area that most students are likely unaware of yet has the most far-reaching implications and possibilities. Much of the Extended Health Coverage applies to practitioners, with 100 per cent coverage provided for the following services, so long as they don’t exceed the established limits.
Services with chiropractors, podiatrists, chiropodists, osteopaths and speech therapists have a maximum of $50 per visit and $500 per benefit year (combined); services with registered massage therapists (RMT) and physiotherapists have a maximum of $50 per visit and $500 per benefit year (combined); services with naturopaths, acupuncturists and dieticians have a maximum of $50 per visit and $300 per benefit year (combined); and services with psychologists, psychotherapists, social workers and clinical counsellors have a maximum of $1,000 per benefit year.
The only other specified rules on the studentVIP website are that a prescription is required for RMT services each new policy year, mental health practitioners must be registered according to the titles listed above and psychotherapists must be in good standing with the college in their province, registered with Medavie Blue Cross and be issued with a provider number.
In addition to services, students can get 80 to 100 per cent coverage on other medical expenses like one pair of custom orthopedic shoes per benefit year, $200 for orthotic appliances per benefit year, $500 for medical equipment and supplies per benefit year, $300 for hearing aids per five benefit year period and $1,000 for ambulance transportation to the nearest treating hospital per plan year. The first three expenses on this list must have an accompanying prescription for a claim to be accepted.
Travel Coverage
Not to be confused as free airfare to your Spring Break vacation, the travel coverage included in BUSU’s Student Health Plan covers a variety of unexpected expenses one might experience while travelling, including emergency medical assistance, repatriation of mortal remains, trip cancellation, lost luggage, airfare in specific medical cases, psychological coverage abroad and more. This plan covers 365 days per trip up to $2,000,000.
Travel coverage can be incredibly helpful when students are travelling abroad, or international students are travelling to and from their home countries, but injuries and illness incurred as a result of “reckless behaviour,” as studentVIP’s website explains, will not be covered.
Accident Coverage
BUSU’s accident coverage may be the most prescient for Brock students. While many of these other services have to be sought out, accidents arrive suddenly and without warning. studentVIP describes an accident as an “occurrence due to external, violent, sudden, fortuitous causes beyond the insured’s control, which must occur while the student is insured under this policy.”
There are numerous levels of coverage that BUSU’s plan includes, ranging from maximums of $1,000 to $50,000, depending on the severity of the accident: covered in the threshold of $1,000 to $2,500 are seat belt indemnities, accidental dental expenses, funeral expenses and hospital indemnities; covered up to $5,000 are deaths via accidents, natural causes and suicide, bereavement expenses, brain death indemnities, cosmetic disfigurement indemnities, day-care indemnities, bereavement expenses and education indemnities; covered up to $10,000 are accident reimbursement expenses, home alterations and vehicle modification expenses; covered up to $15,000 are family transportation expenses, occupational training expenses and rehabilitation expenses; covered up to $20,000 are repatriation expenses; and covered up to $50,000 are deaths via accidents, brain death indemnities and cosmetic disfigurement indemnities.
Most of these expenses will likely never be incurred by the majority of Brock students, but it is good to know what type of security net the BUSU Student Health Plan can provide you in worst-case scenarios.
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Knowing what sort of coverage you have is incredibly important, both for the security net it provides and for the extensive external services you can have covered if you seek them out. If you’re paying the $350 to get covered, you should know how to get the most out of it.
And if you’re already covered under a parent or someone else’s policy, it is absolutely worth comparing your prior coverage with the BUSU coverage. For one, it could lead you to keep the BUSU Student Plan should it be a better plan for you; alternatively, you could already be covered for everything examined here and more, thus making your payment into the Student Health Plan a waste of money.
To see the Student Health Plan coverage in its original writing as well as health care providers who provide deals for students, see the studentVIP website. This is also the website where students can opt out of the Student Health Plan, make claims and more.