Health and Dental Plan

Costs of dental and other health services such as prescriptions are high, expensive and show no signs of going down. For students on a fixed income, those costs can be disastrous.

Lakeland College Students' Association offers a mandatory health and dental plan to help you with those costs. You can opt out if you already have coverage.

If you have any questions about the LCSA Benefits Plan, go to the SA office on your campus or check out My StudentPlan

In additional to the benefits plan, there's also a student assistance plan.

For more details about both, see below.

All services are confidential.

Explaining the benefits plan

Why is the plan mandatory?

With a mandatory plan, the insurance risk is spread over a large number of students, the cost per student is lowered, making the fee affordable. Individual health and dental plans can be as much as 5 times more than the current student fee.

Is this plan the same as my provincial health care?

No. The LCSA student benefits plan is an extended health and dental plan. This supplements, not replaces, your provincial health care coverage.

How do I enrol for coverage?

You are automatically enrolled provided you meet the eligibility criteria:

you are a member of the SA
you are a full-time student enrolled in a certificate, diploma or degree program
you live in Canada and you are under age 70

How do I pay the fee?

Fees are assessed automatically at registration if you meet the eligibility criteria.

When does my coverage begin and end?

Eligible students will receive 12 months of coverage staring the first day of the month your program begins.

How to access your coverage

You can download a Benefit Card from the benefits dropdown on the My StudentPlan website.

When you are at the pharmacy or dental office please supply them with the following and they will be able to submit your claim directly to the insurer: Plan # 52451, Cert # [Student ID #], Insurer: Canada Life.

What if I already have coverage?

If you are an eligible student and have comparable health and/or dental coverage, you may apply to waive benefits. Go to the opt out page on My StudentPlan.

Each student is given one opportunity each year to waive benefits for health and/or dental plans.
All waiver forms must be completed through the opt out form on My StudentPlan and be received by the deadline for that semester.
You have 30 days from your program's start date to opt out.
There will be no exceptions for students who fail to submit their completed waiver form by the applicable deadline.
When waivers are approved, you will receive a refund.
If comparable coverage used to waive the student plan ends, you have 30 days from the loss of that coverage to notify the SA office to be covered by the LCSA Benefits Plan. Confirmation of loss of coverage is also required on reapplication for coverage. The same applies if family coverage is lost.

Can I add my family to the plan?

Each year you are given one opportunity to purchase family coverage for your spouse and/or dependents by completing an application form available on My StudentPlan. You also pay a family coverage fee.

Note:

All family add-on forms and applicable fees must be received within 30 days of the program's start date.
Your family can only be covered while you are a student on the plan.
Your optional family add-on is not automatically renewed. You must purchase the coverage each benefit year before the deadline.
Family add-on fees are non-refundable.

Definitions

Spouse means the person who is a resident of Canada and who is married to the student, or a person of either sex who has continuously co-habitated with the student for a period of at least one year and who is publicly represented as the student's husband or wife.

Dependent means an unmarried child who is a resident of Canada, and entirely dependent on the student for maintenance and support, and who is:

under 21 years of age
under 25 years of age and attending a college or university
physically or mentally incapable of self-support and became incapable to that extent while entirely dependent on the student for maintenance and support while eligible under either of the above age criteria

Where can I use the plan?

Your student identification card may be used at any participating provider (pharmacy or dentist clinic) across Canada and payment of eligible claims will be honoured.

To fill a prescription drug or dental claim, you will need to supply the pharmacist/dentist with the following information:

Your Plan Number: 52451
Insurer: Canada Life
Certificate: is your Student ID number.

How do I make a claim?

Download the Canada Life App from the MyStudentPlan website.

Scroll down to the My Canada Life Registration area. There's a link to create an account as well as detailed information about how to set up your account.

The app allows you to submit your claims plus has other functions such as setting up direct deposit.

How do I opt out of the plan?

Go to MyStudentPlan opt-out applications.

The final deadline for opting out is 30 days from the official start date of your program.

History of the plan

After a student referendum, the SAs on both campuses joined forces to provide Lakeland students with a mandatory benefits plan.

The goal was a reasonably priced insurance program to help students maintain health care quality and ensure costs from medical emergencies don't endanger their studies.