Students that opted out of coverage on time from the University of Manitoba Students’ Union (UMSU) Health and Dental Plan were still assessed the fees — up to $393 — in their Aurora account by the fall term tuition deadline.
The Enhanced Care UMSU Health and Dental Plan is a group insurance plan that provides health, dental, vision and travel coverage to undergraduate and graduate students. A legal consultation service is also included in the plan for undergraduate students.
The plan is provided by Studentcare, a collective insurance plan administrator that serves over a million students across the country.
Undergraduate students who are members of UMSU — registered in at least one on-campus course — and who are registered for least six credit hours of courses in the fall term are automatically covered in the plan. Full-time graduate students who are members of the University of Manitoba Graduate Students’ Association (UMGSA) are also automatically covered.
Fees for the UMSU Health and Dental Plan are directly added to student enrolment fees in Aurora, the university’s registration and student records management system. Students can opt out of the plan during the change-of-coverage period with proof of other equivalent health and dental coverage.
For students that successfully opted out of the program during the change-of-coverage period from Aug. 30 to Sept. 25, fees for the plan were still assessed in their Aurora account by the Oct. 2 fall term tuition deadline.
An employee from the registrar’s office indicated that students who opted out on time and received an opt-out confirmation email would not have to pay the plan fees in their account. “And if they pay, that amount will come in as a credit on their account for winter or any future terms,” explained an employee from the registrar’s office.
Carolyn Wang, UMSU vice-president finance and operations, stated that “UMSU is concerned to hear that some students were still billed for the UMSU Health and Dental Plan and Legal Plan despite opting out before the opt out deadline.
“UMSU does not have control over the Studentcare website where students opt out of their plan, nor the University of Manitoba website, Aurora, where tuition fees are billed and paid,” said Wang.
“However, we have raised these concerns with Studentcare and will continue to do so until all of the issues are resolved. We are awaiting a meeting with both Studentcare and the University of Manitoba to seek further information on why this issue occurred.”
The Manitoban reached out to both Jeff Adams, university registrar and executive director of enrolment services, and Studentcare for comment. No responses were received by our deadline.
