Human Resources

 

Dear Acadia colleagues,

The Group Benefits Committee, which includes voting representatives from Acadia’s three employee groups (AUFA, SEIU, and AUPAT), the Director of Human Resources, and a member of the senior administration, recently approved enhancements to the employee benefit program. This new plan will go into effect on April 1, 2025 for SEIU and AUPAT members. The changes have been proposed to AUFA (faculty) members and are pending a vote.

Background
Over the last 30 years, there have been no significant updates to the health benefits plan at Acadia; consequently, the plan has arguably fallen behind in providing for the needs and priorities of Acadia employees. Our leadership team has resolved to fix this.

As part of the benefits plan review, the Group Benefits Committee distributed a survey to Acadia employees in February 2024 to capture where improvements to the benefits offerings were most needed. In all, 321 employees completed this survey.

What Acadia employees are saying about their health and benefits needs
The employees who responded to the survey clearly identified mental health, drug coverage, and vision care as important benefits. There was support for designing a benefits package that had inclusive and equitable offerings, and most respondents indicated that they were willing to accept higher premiums for improved benefits.  

Enhancements to your benefits plan

The Group Benefits Committee was strongly guided by employee feedback in designing a package that improves the benefits plan to meet the needs of the majority of employees. This Summary of Health Benefits Changes document breaks down the changes to the benefit plan.

Some of the highlights include:

• Mental health coverage expanded: Under the new plan, the per-visit maximum would increase to Blue Cross’s customary per-visit fee maximum for a psychologist, up to a maximum of $2,000 per year.  The list of practitioners covered would be expanded to include psychologists, social workers, clinical counselors, psychoeducational specialists, and psychotherapists.
• Additional therapy coverage expanded: Coverage for services provided by speech therapists, occupational therapists, osteopaths, chiropractors, chiropodists/podiatrists (combined), massage therapists, and naturopaths will increase to a maximum of $500 per practitioner per year with a combined annual maximum of $1,500. Physiotherapy coverage will remain unchanged.
• Continuous glucose monitoring to be covered: Coverage for continuous glucose monitoring, which has been a gamechanger for those with diabetes, is not included in the current plan. The new plan will cover costs for continuous glucose monitoring would be covered up to $4,000 per year.
• Fertility coverage to be included: Fertility coverage is not included in the current plan. In the new plan, fertility treatment will be covered up to a lifetime maximum of $25,000.
• Gender affirmation coverage: Gender affirmation coverage is not included in the current plan. In the new plan, gender affirming care would be covered up to $5,000 per year with a $40,000 lifetime maximum.
• Hearing aid coverage expanded: The current plan covers hearing aids for up to $600 every three years. In the new plan, hearing aids would be covered for up to $3,000 every three years.
• Lower-cost generic drugs prioritized: The current plan follows a generic substitution policy. In the new plan, drug coverage would follow a mandatory generic policy. This means that your default prescription will be the generic drug (if it is available), though a brand name drug may still be acquired through the plan with caveats. There are no other changes to the current plan’s drug coverage or dispensing fee.

Benefit plan cost changes
The enhancements within the benefits plan will prompt an increase in costs, with mental health coverage being the single largest increase in terms of cost to the plan. This updated plan will cost an estimated 22.1% more, which will be split equally between the employer (Acadia University) and participating employees.  

The current bi-weekly rate for an employee’s single-person coverage is $30.69. With the new plan, this bi-weekly rate will increase to $37.47 ($30.69 + $6.78). The current bi-weekly rate for family coverage is $77.21. With the new plan, this bi-weekly rate will increase to $94.27 ($77.21 +17.06). Premiums are 50/50 cost shared between employee and employer.

Approval of the plan and next steps with AUFA 

The proposed package was unanimously passed by the Group Benefits Committee on September 24. Acadia’s administration has signed off, meaning the plan will take effect for SEIU and AUPAT employee members on April 1, 2025.

AUFA members will be voting on the plan this fall, likely by the end of November. If a majority of eligible AUFA members vote in favour of implementing the changes to the benefits program, the changes will be implemented as of April 1, 2025. If a majority of eligible AUFA members vote against the proposed changes, the benefits program in its current form will remain in place for AUFA members only.  

Understand your improved benefits plan: Townhall on November 19

We want you to the get the most out of your benefits and to clarify any questions you might have. On Tuesday, November 19 at 11am at Fountain Commons Great Hall, we will be hosting an Acadia townhall that will include an informational session with a Q&A.  

In advance of this meeting, we’ll send out a link to all employees where you can submit questions anonymously. The intention is to provide a safer opportunity for employees to ask potentially personal and sensitive questions related to health factors that matter most to them. By having these questions in advance, townhall presenters might also be better prepared to provide direct and detailed answers.

Please look to your inbox in the coming weeks for this advance question link and invitation to the November 19 townhall.  

Thank you for everyone’s input in this important process. We hope that these enhancements prove to be beneficial to you and your dependents and reflect our appreciation of you as Acadia employees.

 

The Group Benefits Committee

• Kerry Deveau – Chair, Senior Administration
• Erin Beaudin – Senior Administration
• Terry Aulenbach – AUPAT
• Harish Kapoor – AUFA
• Erin Crandall – AUFA
• Tia Atwell – SEIU
• Kathy Klein – Recording Secretary
• Elektra Papadogiorgaki – Human Resources