GEO won a dental plan for grad employees at UMass-Amherst in our 1999-2001 contract. Dentists do not work at UHS, nor is our dental coverage administered by UHS but by GEO and Delta Dental, thus we generally refer to the dental plan as an autonomous entity separate from our health plan. Starting November 1, 2006 GEO will also be offering a vision care plan through EyeMed Vision Care. The procedures covered by our dental insurance will not be dealt with in great detail in this booklet - for detailed information, please consult one of the many info sheets available in the GEO office.

Once you have read through the information below you can enroll on-line at www.uawdental.org.

To help members with any questions or problems, you may contact our dental coordinator, Jeremy Brown. You can contact Jeremy at uawdental@external.umass.edu or by phone (413) 534-7618.

To find dentists who accept Dental the best thing to do is to search the live database of in-network dentists on Dental Dental's website. NOTE: this year for the first time our dental plan can be used outside of Massachusetts so you may use the Massachusetts search page to make it a bit easier to find a dentist within Massachusets (any dentist in either the DeltaPremier or DeltaPreferred network accepts our plan, but there can be a difference in your copay depending on what procedure you need done: please read "The Dental & Vision Plan Options" below). or you may use the USA search page to search for a dentist in any state: just select "Delta Dental PPO" as your plan (this network consists of dentists who take both DeltaPremier and DeltaPreferred).

SOME IMPORTANT THINGS TO NOTE
* Coverage for both dental and vision runs from November 1st to October 31st, so if you had dental coverage through GEO last year (vision was not yet offered) you will still be covered until October 31st 2006, but new students will not be covered until November 1st 2006, assuming that you sign up before then.

* One of the unfortunate stipulations of our contract is that everyone MUST sign up for dental every year, so if you had coverage in Fall 2005/ Spring 2006, you should do this by October 10, 2006 to avoid any gaps in coverage.

Costs
Eligibility
Enrollment
Coverage Options


Costs: All plans are free except Family Dental!
As of our latest contract, both the GEO dental plan and the GEO vision plan are free to individuals - grad students no longer have additional payroll deductions for their individual Delta coverage. The exception is for those wanting dental insurance for their families. If you want family dental coverage, you must pay a premium of $180 for the year (equivalent to $15/month). This year we are pleased to be able to offer Family vision coverage free of charge.

If you choose to apply for Family dental coverage, you may pay your family premium using any of three methods:

1. Payroll Deduction: Your request form must be brought to the GEO office by the Noon, Oct. 10th deadline. $36.00 will be taken out of 5 paychecks starting October 20th.
2. Credit Card: Payment is made on the web via secure server. See www.uawdental.org for more details.
3. Check: Write a check for the full amount of $180 made out to “UAW/UMass BOT” and either bring it to the GEO office. or mail it to:

GEO Dental
326 Middlesex House
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA 01003

Dental & Vision Eligibility
The eligibility criteria are very similar to those for the health insurance waiver (though the plans and their application processes are completely separate).

HALF-YEAR ELIGIBILITY OPTION ADDED

Six Months’ Eligibility: November through April
Earnings from June 1, 2006 through January 14, 2007 (basically fall semester
earnings) in a GEO position totaling at least $3344 make a graduate student
employee eligible for dental and vision coverage for one (1) six-month
period: November 1, 2006-April 31, 2007*

Six Months’ Eligibility: May through October
Earnings from January 15, 2007 through May 31, 2007 (basically spring
semester earnings) in a GEO position totaling at least $3344 make a graduate student employee eligible for dental and vision coverage for one (1) six-month period: May 1, 2007 - October 31, 2007.*

Full Years’ Eligibility:
Earnings from June 1, 2006 through May 31, 2007 in a GEO position totaling at least $6688
make a graduate student employee eligible for dental and vision coverage for the period of
November 1, 2006-October 31, 2007. If your earnings occur only in the spring semester, but will total at least $6688—you are eligible to enroll in the plans for November 1, however, your enrollment application must be accompanied by a copy of your employment contract or your letter of appointment.


When You Become Ineligible for the Plans:
You will lose your eligibility when you graduate or withdraw from the university (you would then
have the option of continuing your coverage for up to 18 months by paying 102% of your monthly
premium, per the federal COBRA legislation)

*In cases where an employee’s contract spans both time periods outlined above such that the
appropriate coverage period cannot be definitively determined, the applicant may be offered
the option to choose which of the two six month coverage periods he or she would prefer. In all
other cases, the employee’s coverage must be designated for the six month period that
overlaps the majority of their term of employment.

Dental & Vision Enrollment Cycle
The GEO dental and vision plans run from November 1st to October 31st of the following year (unless you're only eligible for the first 6 month coverage period starting in November). This means that unlike the Basic health plan, you will continue to enjoy full coverage in the summer (unless you graduate - coverage ends upon graduation).

You must re-enroll every year. When enrollment begins (generally in the last weeks of September), emails and letters go out to all eligible graduate employees. You can enroll on-line at www.uawdental.org. You will also need to download a Dental & Vision FERPA waiver (sometimes referred to as an "authorization form") from the dental website, to be brought to the GEO office. A Dental & Vision FERPA waiver allows the union to verify your eligibility for the dental & vision plans. We cannot process your dental & vision application without a Dental & Vision FERPA waiver.

DEADLINES
The enrollment deadline for Nov. 1 coverage is Oct. 10, 2006 (you must apply onnline and then return your signed enrollment authorization form (dental & vision FERPA) to the GEO office by this deadline). We cannot guarantee against gaps in your coverage if your application is received later than this.

If you are enrolling for family coverage, and wish to pay your premium via payroll deduction, you must return your payroll deduction form by Oct. 10th.

HOW TO APPLY
STEP 1 - ONLINE: Please visit www.uawdental.org to apply for dental & vision.
In order to complete this application you will need your Social Security Number (SSN). If you do not have a SSN then please contact the Benefits Administrator, Jeremy Brown: uawdental@external.umass.edu.

Please write down the login and password you create for your online enrollment for use in the future.

STEP 2 - GEO OFFICE: After filling out the online application you will be asked to print out and sign an enrollment authorization statement which you will need to bring to the GEO office before your application can be processed. If you choose family coverage and elect to pay by payroll deduction, you will be asked to print and sign a second authorization and bring this to the GEO office as well.

Completion of the online application will be followed by verification of your eligibility. It may take up to two weeks to verify your eligibility and complete your enrollment, so please be sure your coverage is in effect before scheduling an appointment.

For questions regarding enrollment and benefit coverage that are not already explained on our website www.uawdental.org, please contact the Dental Plan Administrator at (413) 534-7618. You may also forward your dental questions to us via email at uawdental@external.umass.edu

THE DENTAL & VISION PLAN OPTIONS

DENTAL PLAN - DELTAPREFERRED OPTION USA PLUS (PPO)
Even with dental insurance, any dental work beyond routine preventive care will cost you something in the deductible and the copay (see the plan description) -- sometimes this amounts to a substantial sum of money.

Here are some tips for keeping your costs down when possible:

• Ask for a Pre-Treatment Estimate - Dental office receptionists and dentists themselves know very little about your particular insurance plan and what it does and doesn’t cover. They may try to make assurances to you and may be perfectly well-intentioned, but they cannot possibly know what our plan does or doesn’t cover. The only way to make sure whether or how much something is covered is to get your dentist to submit a “pre-treatment estimate” to Delta for the procedures you need done—Delta Dental will then send you a letter within about two weeks to let you know how much they will cover and how much you’ll have to pay.
• White Fillings - when your dentist asks you if you’d rather have white fillings or silver fillings, be aware that white fillings are only fully covered for front teeth (only rarely for other teeth). And white fillings are substantially more expensive, so you will end up paying much more out-of-pocket for white fillings. If you want the white fillings you should consider asking for a pre-treatment estimate (see above).
• DeltaPreferred is a Discount Network - When possible, you might want to see a dentist who is in the DeltaPreferred network — though our new plan gives you the freedom to choose from a much larger network than that, the percentage you will pay on procedures at a Preferred dentist will be smaller because the amount they can charge Delta is pre-negotiated and smaller. In a sense, this is Delta’s discount network. Note that our plan is no longer limited to Massachusetts: you can see a dentist in-network in any state. See www.uawdental.org/dental for info on where to search for a dentist outside of Massachusetts.
• Use Delta Dental’s Website - You should register for member access to Delta’s “e-Quest” system. This will allow you to log in and check the status of your coverage; information about your recent dental visits; the results of your pre-treatment estimate requests...and more. Click over to www.deltamass.com. If you find it confusing to register, you can access a tutorial via this link: www.uawdental.org/dental
• Important note: Delta does not cover any procedure done in a hospital, even if a Delta dentist refers you. This issue arises mainly with oral surgery - make sure your oral surgeon is covered by Delta before you go in for services.

VISION PLAN - EYEMED VISION CARE

We are pleased to be able to offer vision care for the first time! Our vision care plan can be used at a number of private vision care practices as well as a number of chain stores.

Here are a few things to take note of:

• In store promotions for vision care cannot be combined with member benefits. If you choose to use the in-store promotion, you may use you benefits for a secondary pair of glasses or contact lenses, but not for the products or services for which the in-store discount was applied.
• It will take up to 20-30 business days before you receive your EyeMed ID card. You can find all the information you need to use your coverage by visiting this URL: www.uawdental.org/vision
• You can search for a participating vision care provider at this URL: www.enrollwitheyemed.com/access
• You can access your benefit information, information about laser vision correction, locate providers, or obtain an OON claim form at this URL: www.eyemedvisioncare.com (choose: "Member Access")