Help us protect you and your benefits

February 28, 2025

Your benefits

Your OSSTF Employee Life and Health Trust (ELHT) benefits plan is designed to protect what’s important to you – your health and your family. It provides you with health, dental and life coverage when you need it.

Your plan is funded by a shared pool of funds for all plan members, based on negotiated funding through collective bargaining and/or member-paid premium contributions. As a plan member, you play a crucial role in keeping the plan affordable and sustainable.

Why is protecting your benefits so important?

When service providers encourage unnecessary spending with the phrase “use it or lose it,” it drives up the cost of providing benefits. This can lead to reduced coverage, increased member-paid premium contributions, or both.

That’s why at the OSSTF ELHT, we advocate for “use it well.” By making informed choices, we can work together to protect your benefits plan.

Common misconceptions: I need to use all my benefits before they expire. Using benefits unnecessarily can increase costs and reduce coverage. Focus on using benefits for essential and preventive care. Brand-name medications are always better. Generic medications are just as effective and are often more affordable. The OSSTF ELHT plan pays for generic medications only (approval is required for exceptions). Preventive care isn’t necessary if I’m healthy. Regular check-ups and screenings can prevent serious health issues and save costs in the long run.

Safeguarding your plan helps keep your benefits affordable, accessible, and sustainable for you, your family, and your colleagues. Check out this illustration on how to protect your plan.

Ready to use it well? Here’s how you can make a difference:

• Preventative care: Maintain your health and catch potential issues early by scheduling regular physical checkups with your doctor and requesting screening tests for conditions like high blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes and certain cancers.  
• Necessary treatments: Part of protecting your well-being is understanding and staying informed about the health services you receive. Use your benefits plan for treatments and services that are medically necessary and recommended by your healthcare provider.
• Provider in good standing: Always check the delisted providers list before making appointments to ensure your providers are in good standing. Services provided by delisted providers are not eligible for reimbursement under the plan.
• Wellness programs: Participate in wellness programs like Starling Minds to help maintain your mental well-being.

Your choices impact both your health and the health of your plan. Use it well.

 

 

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The information in this document is provided by OSSTF Benefits for general information only. OSSTF Benefits endeavours to have all information current and accurate. We make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, or suitability of the information included. All information is subject to change without notice.

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