What follows is a note from Peter Wallace who is our Executive Lead on Benefits.

We wanted to share some information with retired members of Dalhousie University who are subscribers to the Dental Plan. As you would most likely be aware, the ability for our members to access dental services during the current environment is non existent with the exception of some emergency services. Due to this fact, for the near future, there will be no claims flowing through the Dalhousie dental plan therefore no dollars being paid out of the plan.

As a result, Dalhousie will be shutting down the dental premium deduction for the months of April May and June for all members enrolled in the dental plan (members will not see a dental plan deduction for those months). The rationale for this is that with no claims being incurred, it does not make financial sense to be accruing premium dollars and sending them to Medavie Blue Cross (MBC) if there are no dental claims to be paid.

For some additional context on dental services during COVID-19 and the impact on dental plans in general, many Canadian insurance companies are looking at providing a reduction in premiums equal to 50% per month on dental benefit premiums for their fully insured clients due to the fact that people cannot access dental services.

If you have any questions on this phone the Dalhousie Benefits Office at 902-494-1122 or email benefits@dal.ca