Members are entitled to $1000 per calendar year for basic dental services such as cleanings and fillings. Members enrolled in family coverage are entitled to $2000 per calendar year. See our dental booklet for a full list of procedures covered. (Please note that the eligibility year follows the academic year–September 1st to August 31st. See the “Eligibility” section for more information on this. If your coverage expires, you are not eligible for reimbursement regardless of how much money you did not claim when you were eligible.)

Contact administrator@cupe3906.org. You can also contact Equitable Life of Canada at 1-800-265-4556. Remember to have the group policy number (97528), job title (TA or RA in lieu, Post Doctoral Fellow or Sessional Facultys) and your personal certificate number (your student or employee number) on hand.

To view updates of your claims, to sign up for direct deposit, and to view/update your personal information with Equitable Life, you need to create a user profile at www.equitable.ca. Go to the top left corner, click “log in” and select “plan member.” This should take you to a page where you can select “active account” as on the right-hand side of the page. Select “plan member”. You will require your name, date of birth, Group Policy number (97528) and certificate number (your student/employee number). Please note! You cannot create a user profile online until your information and premiums have been remitted to the insurance company. If you have questions about the timing of this, please contact administrator@cupe3906.org. Also, you must provide Equitable with your direct deposit information through your online profile if you wish to sign up for direct deposit. Equitable has no way of paying your claims through the McMaster payroll system. *Tip! If you are having trouble logging on, try using your first and middle name as your “first name.”

For a helpful video on updating your person information, please visit: https://www.equitable.ca/en/our-products/group-benefits/how-to-review-and-update-your-information-for-group-benefits/
If you do not have an online profile, you will need to fill out the relevant parts of the following form (i.e., “Plan Member Information”, Part 7, and Part 10) and drop it off a the CUPE 3906 Office (KTH B111): https://cdn.equitable.ca/forms/unsecured/group/438.pdf
*Tip! Equitable receives your address from the Employer. It’s a good idea to make sure that you update your address on MOSAIC.

Dental offices often contact the wrong insurer, especially if they have other patients from McMaster. (Other groups of employees have different insurers.) Your first step should be to confirm the insurance information that your dental office has on file. Our insurer is Equitable Life of Canada. The group policy number is 97528. Unit 1 members are part of Division 1. (Postdoctoral Fellow members are part of Division 2.) Your personal certificate number is your student number (or, for Postdoctoral Fellows, your employee number).
If your insurance information is correct but you are still having trouble making a claim, contact administrator@cupe3906.org or drop in to the CUPE office in the basement of KTH (room B111) and speak to one of our staff representatives.

No. You receive these benefits as an employee, not as a student, so a change in your student status (as a graduate student) does not “reset” your plan/eligibility amount. Similarly, a change between your employment status between units (e.g., from TA to Postdoc) does not “reset” your plan/reimbursement eligibility. As of September 1, 2018, all of our Units are enrolled in the same plan, which is in part why we can offer single coverage at a relatively low premium cost to members. These kinds of restrictions are typical of premium-based plans and coverage in many workplaces.

You should only have the single dental premium deducted once per academic year. When the deduction is made, it will show up in the “current deduction” column of your pay statement. The Employer dental benefit contribution appears in the column that also lists statutory contributions that the Employer must pay on your behalf. (Please note that you are not being charged/deducted the amounts shown in the Employer contribution column.) Your premium deduction will likely show in the “year-to-date” column of your pay statement until the end of the calendar year, but no further current “CUPE Dental” deductions should appear in the “current” deduction column for the remainder of the academic year. (If this happens, please contact our Staff.)

No. Equitable will not pay dental claims for expenses incurred outside of Canada. Also, they only pay procedures at the Ontario rate, so if you get dental work done in another province and that province charges for procedures at a higher rate than Ontario dentists charge, you must pay the difference. If possible, get your dental work done in Ontario, and only visit registered practitioners.

• The easiest way to get eligible expenses paid from an outstanding claim is to have your dentist resubmit the claim electronically to Equitable Life of Canada.
• If your dentist is not willing to resubmit your claim, ask them to give you/send you a copy of your claim. Please note that a claim is not the same thing as a receipt. A claim lists precise tooth surface codes and procedural codes (in addition to the cost) that are not listed on a receipt. The insurance company needs these codes to pay out eligible claims. Your dentist’s office should be aware of the difference between a copy of the claim and a receipt.
• You can submit the claim yourself online if you have created a profile at www.equitable.ca. (For instructions on how to create a profile, please see below).
• If you are unable to submit the claim online, you can email a copy of the claim to administrator@cupe3906.org and request to have the Local submit the claim for you. This might add a bit of time to the process.
• Alternately, you can email the claim to Equitable Life of Canada at group-dental-claims@equitable.ca. We have been informed that Equitable prefers to receive forms through the online profile, so it’s best to try to create a profile and submit a claim through the website before trying this method.
• TIP! Please make sure that your personal contact information (e.g., mailing address) is up-to-date on the claim form. Many payments go missing because the dentist has an old address on file.

• TIP! Make sure that you have the correct coverage information. The Policy number is 97528. The Certificate Number is your student/employee number. The Division is 001 for TAs, 203 for Sessional Faculty, and 002 for Postdoctoral Fellows. The Employer is McMaster University. The plan holder is CUPE Local 3906.

To view updates of your claims, to sign up for direct deposit, and to view/update your personal information with Equitable Life, you need to create a user profile at www.equitable.ca. Go to the top left corner, click “log in” and select “plan member.” This should take you to a page where you can select “active account” as on the right-hand side of the page. Select “plan member”. You will require your name, date of birth, Group Policy number (97528) and certificate number (your student/employee number). Please note! You cannot create a user profile online until your information and premiums have been remitted to the insurance company. If you have questions about the timing of this, please contact administrator@cupe3906.org. Also, you must provide Equitable with your direct deposit information through your online profile if you wish to sign up for direct deposit. Equitable has no way of paying your claims through the McMaster payroll system. *Tip! If you are having trouble logging on, try using your first and middle name as your “first name.”
For more information, please visit CUPE 3906 Website.