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WELCOME TO THE TRUST FUND
Upcoming Events:
February 1: start date of coverage
for those eligible employees who apply
by the 2/15/12 deadline
providing high quality benefits to graduate student employees at the University of Massachusetts Amherst since 2000.
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
check out our Frequently Asked Questions!
The Health & Welfare Trust was negotiated as part of the union contract between GEO/UAW 2322 and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The University makes contributions per employee into the fund, which is then used to purchase health & welfare benefits for eligible employees. The fund has provided graduate employees with benefits since 2000 and has increased and improved the benefits offered each year. We started with just a dental plan, and now we provide six types of benefits to employees!
The UMASS/UAW Health & Welfare Trust Fund provides the following benefits for eligible graduate employees at UMass Amherst:
* high quality dental & vision insurance plans
* contributions toward keeping health care affordable
* childcare vouchers specifically for grad employees & reduced fees at University childcare
* a wellness reimbursement benefit
ELIGIBILITY
ELIGIBILITY
GRADUATING & FORMER EMPLOYEES
NEW EMPLOYEES
If you graduate, you will lose your eligibility at the end of the plan period you are currently enrolled in (i.e. if you are enrolled for the spring period of the plan and you graduate in May, your coverage will end October 31; if enrolled for the spring period of the plan and you graduate in September, your coverage will end October 31; if enrolled for the fall period of the plan and you graduate in February, your coverage will end April 30).
If you withdraw as a student from the university, fail to be enrolled as a student, or terminate your employment prior to earning the minimum earnings required above, you will lose your eligibility thirty (30) days after the aforementioned event occurs.
If you lose your eligibility, you have the option of continuing your coverage for up to 18 months by paying 102% of your monthly premium, per the federal COBRA legislation.
If you're an incoming graduate student employee for academic year 2011-12, and did not earn wages in a GEO eligible position during 2010-11, your first possible date for coverage is November 1, 2011.
You will receive an enrollment packet for plan year 2011-12 at your UMass email address by mid-September 2011. Online enrollments will begin September 21, 2011.
You can view the eligibility guidelines to ensure you will be eligible.
CURRENT EMPLOYEES
You can view the eligibility guidelines to ensure you will be eligible.
CONTACT
CONTACT US
Tel:
413.545.7117
Address:
329 Middlesex House 111 County Circle
Amherst, MA 01003
Email:
uawdental_external.umass.edu
Fax:
866.795.2684
Login to our online registration system
In order to protect your security, please do not send confidential information (including your SSN) via email to the address above.
quick answer 1
I have a family--what do I need to know about enrolling them?
That's a good question. Here are the most important things you need to know:
1) You can enroll your family in the dental plan for $100 for the entire year. It's free to enroll your family members in the vision plan. Family members' gym fees are not eligible for the wellness reimbursement.
2) Spouses, same or opposite sex domestic partners, and children are eligible as family members on our dental and vision plans.
3) During the online enrollment process you will be prompted to provide your family members' names and dates of births only. You will also be prompted to pay any applicable fees at that time.
4) Your family members won't receive their own insurance cards. Their coverage will be listed under your name and subscriber id in the insurance systems and providers will access this information using your id cards.
quick answer 2
Can I enroll now and be covered immediately?
No.
If you are a new student for the 2011-12 academic year, you cannot enroll before September 21, 2011. Please do not try to enroll earlier--it simply isn't possible.
In addition, though we have the most liberal enrollment policies around (with multiple enrollment periods throughout the year to accomodate everyone) we cannot turn around enrollments in 24 hours. No one can or does. Please remember that our enrollment process involves multiple offices on and off campus.
What we can say is that if you enroll by the October 5, 2011 deadline and are eligible for benefits, you will have guaranteed coverage by November 1, the earliest possible coverage date. Your best bet is to take this date seriously and meet the deadline to ensure the earliest coverage. Waiting will only lead to emergencies down the road that we cannot fix overnight.
quick answer 3
I have an Aetna card--is that may dental card?
No. Aetna is the student health plan provided by the University of Massachusetts. Your dental and vision plans are purchased by the your union's health & welfare trust fund on your behalf and have separate enrollment processes, deadlines, and procedures.
Your dental card will have a Delta Dental of MA logo. You can obtain one at:
https://www.deltamass.com/members/logged_frameset_eliginq.asp
Your vision card will have a EyeMed Vision care logo. You can obtain one at:
https://www.eyemedvisioncare.com/member/
quick answer 4
How can I make sure I get the full wellness reimbursement as quickly as possible?
There are two keys to ensuring you get the full $80 reimbursement as soon as possible:
#1: turn in a receipt showing you paid for activity DURING the plan year of 11/1/11-10/31/12. Any activity outside of these dates can't be counted for the plan year and will be deducted from your reimbursement in a pro-rated way.
#2: choose to be reimbursed via PayPal. Reimbursements using this method arrive 2-6 weeks earlier than checks. You do not need to use the reimbursement to pay for something using PayPal. It can easily be transferred with no fee to your checking account. It takes only 5 minutes to set up a PayPal account. You do not have to keep the PayPal account once you've transferred your money to your own account.
quick answer 6
I enrolled last year--do I need to enroll again
Yes--every grad employee must re-enroll each year.
So, the first time you go to our enrollment age this year, you will choose "Start a new application." Once you have applied online, if you need to log back into the system for any reason, you will choose "View/Edit an existing application."
quick answer 7
How can I obtain my subscriber id & group number?
If you have been enrolled previously, your subscriber ids will stay the same.
New enrollees: your subscriber id will be available as of 11/1/11. If you login to your account at https://www.geouaw.org/hwtrust/reg/login.php
you will see your subscriber id and group numbers for dental & vision.
