Benefit Information for Canisius College Faculty, Staff, and Facilities
- Pamela Dart
- Dawn Rotterman
- Bethany Voorhees
Facilities Health Insurance Benefits for 2024-2025
ADDITIONAL BENEFITS FROM INDEPENDENT HEALTH
Health Savings Accounts
Employees enrolled in the iDirect health care plan are eligible to open a Health Savings Account (HSA). The college contributes to the account, and the employee may also contribute on a pre-tax basis. The employee is responsible for completing the attestation form and forwarding to Human Resources.
Health Savings Accounts are owned by the individual- meaning that if an individual leaves the college, the funds belong to the individual. The funds also roll over from year to year - there is no limit to the balance in the account.
Information on Health Savings Accounts through HealthEquity
To open your Health Savings Account, complete the attestation form and forward the form to Human Resources.
Benefits for Full-Time Faculty and Staff
Full time employees are eligible to enroll in medical, dental, vision, flexible spending and life and long term disability when they are hired and coverage is effective the first of the month following the employee's date of hire.
The only other opportunities for an employee to enroll in the college's plans would be at open enrollment or if the employee experiences a qualifying life event. The college's plan year is July 1 through June 30.
Open enrollment at the college takes place beginning in June and coverage becomes effective July 1.
Qualifying life events are events such as getting married or divorced, having or adopting children, or losing eligibility for other health coverage, and can trigger special enrollment rights. Under the special enrollment rights, you only have 30 days to make changes to your plans. Documentation to make changes is required, and must be submitted to Human Resources. It is the employee's responsibility to notify Human Resources of the qualifying life event. Changes for qualifying life events can be submitted through the online enrollment system: Maxwell Health .
Employees' coverage will begin on the first of the month following their date of hire. All enrollments are done online through Maxwell Health . Canisius offers two plans through Independent Health, www.independenthealth.com . Both plans offer a $250 pre-loaded debit card that can be used for specific services and vendors. To view the list, click here.
Summaries of the plans can be found on the right-hand side of the screen. In addition to the summaries, Summary of Benefits and Coverage, which provide information on how claims may be paid under the plans, are located on the right-hand side. Please note that the Summary of Benefits and Coverage is a tool to assist on making decisions regarding the coverage elected and is not a guarantee of payments or coverage.
Both plans provide coverage for an annual eye exam and discounts for frames and lenses through Eyemed. See the summary for Eyemed.
Children are covered until the end of the month in which they turn 26.
Employees' coverage will begin on the first of the month following their date of hire. Canisius offers two dental plan options - Option A and Option B. The difference between the plans are listed below.
Option A considers charges for out-of-network dentists on the same fee schedule for in-network dentists. For example, an out-of-network dentist charges $135 for a cleaning, but Guardian's fee schedule for in-network dentists allow $65 for a cleaning. Guardian would consider $65 and cleanings are paid at 100%, so the dentist would be paid $65, and the patient would be responsible for the difference of the $135 charged and the $65 paid.
Option B considers the charges for out-of-network dentists on a usual and customary amount. Using the same information listed above, Guardian would look at data for cleanings and what the usual and customary amounts are for those charges. If the usual and customary charges are $125, then Guardian would consider $125 as allowable charges and then pay the claim at 100%, and the patient would be responsible for the additional $10.
There is a $1,000 annual maximum for each member of the family, and children are covered until the end of the month in which they turn 26. The benefit year (deductible, annual limits, etc.) is January to December. For more information on coverage, please refer to the Dental Summary.pdf.
Insurance Cards must be printed from Guardian's website. Please refer to Accessing Benefits Online.pdf
Guardian has a nationwide network that can be utilized, and providers can be located on Guardian's website at www.guardiananytime.com.
Employees may enroll in a separate vision insurance plan through VSP, and the premium is completely paid by the employee. Please review the summary for more information. Both medical plans provide a routine eye exam and discounts on glasses and contacts. The coverage through Guardian is an insurance plan.
Dependent Care accounts are similar to the unreimbursed medical accounts. Employees elect an amount to set aside each year (pre-tax) to reimburse themselves for dependent care. With the dependent care accounts, you may only use what you have contributed, and the limits are based on if you file married joint or single.
Claims may be filed online by going to https://www.novahealthcare.com/reimbursement-account-information-center
Life Insurance
The college offers a basic term life insurance plan of $50,000 of which the employee pays 10% of the cost. Employees who waive the coverage, but later wish to participate, will be required to provide information regarding their health.
Employees may also elect additional coverage for themselves, their spouse and their children. Cost is based on the amount elected and the employee's age as of July 1. Coverage may be elected in increments of $10,000 for the employee with a guaranteed issue of $200,000 and increments of $5,000 for the spouse with a guaranteed issue of $25,000. For more information and cost please click Life-LTD additional information.pdf.
Long Term Disability
Long term disability is income replacement if an employee had to be out of work due to an injury or illness for more than 6 months. Long term disability provides a monthly payment of 60% of an employee's average monthly earnings. There is also a contribution to the employee's 403(b) plan if the employee is participating at the time of disability.
There is a one-year waiting period for an employee to receive the college's contribution to the 403(b) plan. The employee must tax defer to receive the college contribution. The college contribution is determined each year by the Board of Trustees. The employee must contribute 1% to receive the match. Employees may tax defer funds during the one-year waiting period.
Employees will be automatically enrolled at 2% within 30 days of hire. TIAA will notify the employee of their options for enrollment.
Enrollments and salary deferrals must be completed online. TIAA offers free consultations with a TIAA Representative. If you would like to make an appointment to meet on campus click here.
Employee Assistance Program
Canisius College provides an Employee Assistance Program through Uprise Health (formerly Integrated Behavioral Health (IBH). Uprise Health provides employees and their family members with confidential, personal and web-based support on a wide variety of topics. Click here to see more information regarding the benefits and program.
Uprise Health: Uprise Health Member Portal
Access Code: WorkLife