Hello everyone! It’s your friendly neighbourhood CSR, Dilas Siddiqui here and I’m about to tell you three things every Sheridan student should know about their Health and Dental plan!

As a CSR, I’ve answered a lot of questions about the Health and Dental plan. This blog post is a collection of tips to help all Sheridan students get a better understanding of how SSU’s Health and Dental Plan works.

1. Get to Know What You’re Paying For

I discovered I had health insurance when I paid the tuition fees for my first semester ever and went over the invoice. That’s something I believe every student should do, even if someone else is paying your fees! It’s imperative that you know where your money is going and what services you’re getting. An example of this would be ancillary fees which grant you access to services such as the athletic centre and peer mentoring.

2. Get to Know What’s Included in Your Plan

Another thing students should understand is that insurance doesn’t just exist for emergency purposes! The SSU’s health plan offers many benefits, and as a fellow glasses user, vision benefits like coverage for eye exams, contact lenses, and even coverage towards laser eye surgery are pretty cool. There’s many more benefits (like dental benefits!), and students should definitely take advantage of these since they pay about $295 annually for health and dental insurance anyways.

One thing I’ve realized after talking to many students is that quite a few are confused by the phrase ‘change of coverage period’. Although it sounds daunting, I can assure you that that’s not the case!

3. Understand Why the Change of Coverage Period is so Important

The change of coverage period is simply an amount of time during which students can choose to opt out of the health and dental plan and get a full refund for the total cost they pay annually. If you’re working and your job provides you with insurance that you feel is better coverage for you, then you can ‘unenroll’ from the SSU’s health and dental plan during the change of coverage period! Dates for the change of coverage period for each term can be found here on the SSU website.

This is the only time you can get a full refund so be sure to change your coverage if you need to before the deadline.

What about International Students?

 Although I realize most of my tips would help domestic students, don’t worry international peeps, I haven't forgotten you! As an international student on the GuardMe plan, I understand it can be frustrating at times with how little is covered. I have a few tips and tricks to make the most of the situation.

• Make a handy first aid kit filled with bandages, plasters, prescription drugs such as pain killers and epi pens (if you have allergies) and keep it at home.

• If you haven't left home yet, make sure you’re caught up on your vaccinations and blood tests.

• Above all, practice good hygiene and keep your masks on during these COVID times!

That’s all the information I have for now folks, and remember if you have any questions, feel free to pop over to any SSU office (now open on all campuses) and let us know!