AMS/GSS Health & Dental Plan delays fixed, student impact unclear

At the AMS Council meeting on September 25, Councillor Yuki Ichikawa asked VP Finance Gavin Fung-Quon to elaborate on what Fung-Quon said were UBC Enrolment Services delays in relaying health and dental data to Studentcare

Currently administered by Studentcare, the AMS/GSS Health and Dental Plan provides students with extended health coverage in addition to BC’s Medical Services Plan. The plan covers prescription drugs, dental care, psychologist visits, travel health coverage and more. Eligible students are automatically enrolled, but may choose to opt-out or enroll family during the plan’s Change-Of-Coverage Period (which is August 19–October 4). 

In a statement to The Ubyssey, Fung-Quon, who oversees the AMS/GSS Health & Dental Plan, said reasons for the enrolment delays involved issues in reporting from Workday and insufficient information provided to Pacific Blue Cross, the insurer.

“Some data pieces involved in this delay were linked to Workday's generation of reports requiring additional clean up and re-formatting as well as some personal information required for the insurer,” Fung-Quon wrote. 

Fung-Quon said he would not know the number of students impacted by this delay until later on in the year, but said the issues relating to this year’s enrolment have been fixed.

“All current issues relating to this year's enrolment have been resolved …. At this moment, we require the finalized information from Studentcare for all enrolled to get a better understanding of the total number of students which officially had these experiences. This will be available later this term,” Fung-Quon said. 

The Ubyssey also contacted Councillor and EPA Committee chair Riley Huntley to ask if he could shed some light as president of the Nursing Undergraduate Society (NUS) on the impact the delays may have had on students. Huntley said while there are ongoing things he could speak on, healthcare delays aren’t one of them. 

“NUS constituents haven’t noted/reported any issues with data delays,” he wrote.

Fung-Quon also said further technical support requests to ensure smooth processes for next year's reporting with UBC have been introduced.

“The formatting pieces and relevant information for the Health and Dental plan have been made clear to the insurance company and flagged with UBC to work on IT changes to make sure this is remedied to prevent further delays in the future.” 

Share this article copied!