International Students

Important Note:

Post Secondary International Student Health Benefits Plan:

As an international student at GBC, you are automatically enrolled in the SA’s Health Benefits plan. The total cost of both insurance programs is $535.50 for September start students, $ 391.75 for January start, and $ 217.00 for May start students.

Opt-out Information

The Student Health Benefits Plan is a mandatory fee, as passed in a school-wide referendum and conferred by the Student Association Board of Directors and the George Brown College Board of Governors. Students who are presently covered through another plan however, may apply for a refund. International students are eligible for a refund of the fee upon completion of the George Brown College Student Benefits Opt-Out Form. This form is available at any of the Student Association Office. Your alternate health insurance needs to offer the minimum required coverage to get a refund of the health insurance.

Opt-Out instruction available in: Documents

Deadline for Opt-out

• September start students: October 7, 2010
• January new starts students: February 3, 2011 (September start Students are not eligible)
• May new starts students: Please contact us on the first week of your program (September and January start Students are not eligible)

Link to the international brochure & booklet: Documents

The OHIP replacement & Extended Health and Dental coverage

International Students has two types of coverage. The medical services reimbursement program is facilitated by E.T.F.S. (Expert Travel Financial Security) Inc and the Extended Health and Dental coverage is facilitated by Green Shield.

Medical Services by E.T.F.S (Expert Travel Financial Security) Inc

• Medical Services include basic medical services such as seeing a doctor in a walk-in clinic or using the hospital for emergency/serious medical issues involving hospitalization.
• For any emergency/serious medical issues, an E.T.F.S. card will be issued to International Students to facilitate access to the hospital for serious and emergency cases
• For simple doctor ’s visits like seeing a regular doctor at a walk-in clinic, student pays first and uses claim forms to be reimbursed afterwards or you can choose one of clinics in the list which accepts the direct payment from ETFS.

Hospitals and Clinic List-Direct payment by E.T.F.S document

Extended Health and Dental Coverage by Green Shield

• Please visit Green Shield for more information.
• The Extended Health and Dental insurance policy is for services that do not fall under medical services. These include buying prescription drugs, purchase of eyeglasses, massage therapy, physiotherapy, chiropractics and dental care, among others. The Green Shield Plan covers all of these “other” health service costs. All full-time students will have this plan – International and Domestic (Ontario residents)
• For buying prescription drugs, a Green Shield ID number will be given to International Students, so students pay only a small amount when they need to buy medication.

What to do when making a claim from E.T.F.S. (Expert Travel Financial Security) Inc for simple medical visits?

• Should you require immediate medical attention, please use any local walk-in clinic or hospital if it’s an emergency.  All walk-in clinics and family doctor expenses will be out-of-pocket which means you have to pay first and then claim the reimbursement from E.T.F.S. If you need an arrangement of direct billing, please visit Student Association Office. There is the list of walk-in clinics that accept direct billing by ETFS.

To claim for eligible out-of-pocket expenses:

• You must complete a claim form
• Have the doctor fill-out the second section of the claim form
• Make sure you sign and date the claim form

Attach original receipts and mail to E.T.F.S. for consideration
Important: You need keep the copy of receipt as you will submit the original to E.T.F.S.

It is highly recommended to always bring a claim form to any doctor’s visits you may have. Have the doctor fill out his/her portion of the form while during the visit, and you can just mail in your claim right away for reimbursement (refund of money spent). However, if your doctor will charge for the documentation, please do not ask the doctor to fill the form as the documentation fee will not be covered. If you have questions about filling out the form, there is a toll-free phone number listed on the front and top of the form. E.T.F.S. phone representatives are available in different languages.

Hospitalizations:

If you are hospitalized, please do the following:

• You or your representative must contact E.T.F.S. or Global Excel in order to verify benefits coverage or payment.
• Have your George Brown College student card on you at all times! That way, your coverage through the college can always be verified (whether you have your E.T.F.S. Card yet or not). Failure to notify ETFS during an emergency will delay payment and limit E.T.F.S. liability toward the situation – whether payment will be made directly, or by claim form.

Serious hospital visits will always result in payment directly to the hospital by E.T.F.S. Your coverage will be verified either through your E.T.F.S. card or GBC ID card.
E.T.F.S. will either pay the hospital directly, or the hospital will mail the student their bill/invoice, which the student can then mail to E.T.F.S. using a claim form. These bills are taken care of directly because hospital expenses are typically more of what a student can afford out-of pocket. The school understands that and looks after these situations for the student.

What to do when making a claim from Green Shield for Prescription drugs?

Your benefits are activated around 8 weeks after the start of classes. After the activation, simply you have to inform your identification number of Green Shield to a pharmacist. At any pharmacy in Ontario, the pharmacist will take the identification number, so that the school’s payment will come off the total owing to the pharmacy automatically. Then the student only has to pay what is owed at the time – no mailing in a form.

Green Shield also works on a claim form reimbursement system for most services except prescription drugs. Claim forms are mailed to Green Shield including any original receipts to the department for which the service is for. (For example, the Vision Care Department is where a claim form should be mailed to for the purchase of glasses). All the different departments are listed in the Green Shield Outline of Benefits booklet, and on the claim forms themselves (available at greenshield.ca/studentcentre).
When submitting a claim form to Green Shield, make sure:

• Claim form is completed, signed and dated properly
• Original receipts are attached
  Important: You need keep the copy of receipt as you will submit the original to Green Shield.

• Submit or mail the above to the appropriate department

When filing dental claims you can request that your dentist submit the claim electronically by providing the following information:

• Policy # – 27983
• Green Shield ID – GBC +You Student # -00
  For example if your ID in GBC is 100123456 , your Green Shield ID is GBC 100123456 – 00
  Important: You need to come to one of the Student Association Offices for your eligibility before using the Green Shield ID.
• Date of Birth

Family Enrollment for International Students

Post Secondary International Students can purchase ETFS and Green Shield coverage for family members. Details about costs and forms, please visit the Health Benefits Office as soon as you start your program.
Family Enrollment Deadline:

• September start students: October 14, 2010
• January new starts students: February 10, 2011 (September start Students are not eligible)
• May new starts students: Please contact us on the first week of your program

Opt-In Information

Those who opted out and want to come back into the plan Download Instruction

Once you opt out from the Health Plan, it is a recurrent opt-out. It means you don’t have to opt out every year.

If your current comparable coverage used to waive the student plan terminates, you have 31 days from the loss of coverage to notify the Student Health Benefits Office in order to be covered under the health and dental plan. You must provide payment of the fee as well as written copy of notice of termination.

Important information for graduating international students

The update of New OHIP Coverage for Post Graduation Permit Holder is posted. For more details please visit: http://www.georgebrown.ca/interntl/local/graduating-international-students.aspx)