On October 6, the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) held an emergency Board of Directors (BOD) meeting to propose reverting to its original mental health coverage plan. 

In September, the union changed its coverage plan from $100 a visit for up to 15 visits to a mental health care practitioner each policy year to 80 per cent coverage for up to $400 per-year. As part of the new plan, once the standard mental health coverage expires, students had to apply for an additional $1,100 per-year — up to $100 per visit — covered by the UTSU Mental Health Support Fund. 

Students quickly noticed the changes to the mental health plan online before the union addressed them. Several students have since criticized the union’s lack of transparency regarding the changes made to the plan. At its September BOD meeting, the union announced that it had allocated $250,000 from its Health and Dental reserve into the Mental Health Support Fund to support the new plan. 

During the meeting, the board approved reverting to the old plan and abolished the UTSU Mental Health Support Fund. 

Changing coverage again 

During the meeting, UTSU Vice-President Finance & Operations Elizabeth Shechtman explained the reasons behind the changes. 

The original decision was made by the previous executive team because the premiums — the monthly or annual amounts paid — for the old health and dental insurance plan were set to increase by about 10 per cent, or roughly an extra $37 per student among approximately 40,000 students. 

The union claims to have aimed to make initial visits more affordable and bridge the gap later on. However, they soon decided to revert to the original plan after executives were flooded with messages from various groups on campus, including students, administration, and some board members. 

To cover this increase without charging students more money and maintain the old plan for the rest of the year, the union will use a refund of $1.3 million from Student Care, along with an additional $17,000 from the Health and Dental Reserve Fund on top of the $250,000 initially allocated to the Mental Health Support Fund. 

Shechtman mentioned that the union is in good financial standing to do this. 

In response to a board member’s question about a lack of communication regarding the change, Shechtman noted, “Because of the turnover in [executives], it does become very difficult to carry one project onto the next year and make sure that all those communications get written in, and that we have those changes lined up for students.”

Shechtman was the UTSU president for the 2023–24 school year. She is the only member of the executive team who was part of the previous academic year’s UTSU executive team.

UTSU President Shehab Mansour added, “We always want to have that relationship with students, where [they] feel comfortable and are able to bring any concerns forward.”

“The UTSU is not a perfect organization,” he said. “We’re continuing to learn… just like all of us as students.” 

In a statement to The Varsity, the UTSU wrote that, “There were plans to address the original changes, and unfortunately, it took us longer than expected.”

“The delay in communication was not intentional, and we are implementing better processes to avoid such issues in the future.”

In an Instagram post on October 7, the union announced that they were reverting back to the old plan after taking student feedback into consideration.

The UTSU wrote, “Our students have always been at the heart of our initiatives.”

In addition to reverting to the old plan, the union also announced the in-person option of the Empower Me program, which includes in-person services allowing students to meet one-on-one with mental health professionals. 

“We are dedicated to maintaining transparency throughout this process and have actively listened to student concerns regarding this decision,” wrote the union. 

Temporary fix

The UTSU noted that reverting to the old plan is only a temporary fix. Shechtman explained that the premiums are “jumping up rapidly” and that this won’t be a long-term solution. 

“I will say, and I’m going to be very upfront, it’s not sustainable. We do need to somehow revert to other resources on campus. However, we do think that, at least for this year, this is the best plan that we can come up with,” she said. 

Shechtman added that the Mental Health Support Fund is also unsustainable, as it would create a $30 million liability for the union if all students used it. 

In a statement to The Varsity, the UTSU wrote that “There are many upcoming conversations the UTSU will be having, and more information will be shared in the future.”

“Our mission stays consistent in searching for any avenues to provide the most value to our students.”

Ghost of union past 

A former UTSU executive member, who wished to remain anonymous due to confidentiality concerns, spoke to The Varsity about the union’s initial considerations for cutting mental health coverage. 

In addition to the premiums increasing, they explained that the Health and Dental plan is “way over budget” and that the union “looked at the four-year forecast and realized that [the mental health coverage] was unsustainable long term.” 

In the statement, the UTSU wrote that, “Currently, there are no concerns with the Health and Dental budget.”

They also mentioned the original changes were made last March “to ensure the long-term sustainability of the plan while keeping it affordable for all students.” 

The former member noted that there were discussions last year about cutting the mental health support from the Health and Dental Plans to make way for the Mental Health Support Fund and downtown mental health services. 

“The solution to that is either you cut costs or you raise premiums,” said the former member. “I guarantee there were people on the executive [team] who weren’t happy with this change.” 

Upon hearing about the union’s emergency meeting, the former member mentioned that, “The UTSU has always had issues with transparency… last year was not unique in that regard.”

In their statement, the UTSU wrote that, “Transparency is a core pillar at the UTSU, and we are constantly working on strategies to ensure we are as transparent as possible with students.”

“To improve communication moving forward, we are implementing several initiatives, including more frequent updates through social media, email newsletters, and making sure we have active conversations with the administration so everyone has access to the same information to share with our students.”