HOW IS THE ETFO-ELHT FUNDED?


When the Federation sits down with the government to talk about benefits, it does not negotiate what type of benefits will be provided – the ETFO-ELHT determines the components of the benefits plan. Instead, the Federation negotiates the funding that will be received by the ETFO-ELHT to provide benefits to eligible members. The initial amount of money negotiated


by ETFO in 2014 provided enough funding for the ETFO-ELHT up to 2019-2020. That negotiated amount included built-in annual inflationary increases. Negotiated funding for benefits was based on:


• the number of eligible permanent members that were entitled to benefits coverage; and


“ AS A RESULT OF PRO- VINCIAL NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN ETFO, SCHOOL BOARD ASSOCIATIONS AND THE GOVERNMENT, THE RESPONSIBILITY OF MANAGING BENEFITS FOR ETFO MEMBERS WAS EVENTUALLY TRANSFERRED FROM INDIVIDUAL SCHOOL BOARDS TO THE ETFO EMPLOYEE LIFE AND HEALTH TRUST.”


• the employment status of those eligible members, i.e., whether they occupied full-time permanent or part-time per- manent positions.


Benefits funding for eligible part-time


members is pro-rated, which means that the funding the government provides is increased or reduced proportionally based on the full-time equivalent status (FTE) of the member.


BENEFITS FOR PART-TIME MEMBERS


When a member working in a part-time position opts to participate in benefits that are not fully funded by the government, the part-time member pays the pro-rated premiums. For example, a member work- ing in a half-time position would pay 50% of the monthly health and dental benefit premiums, and a member in a 0.8 FTE position would pay 20% of the monthly premiums. Part-time members may opt out of health and dental benefits, and may opt back in within 31 days of experiencing an FTE change (e.g., increasing from 0.5 FTE to 0.8 FTE, etc.) or a life event (e.g., mar- riage/common-law/divorce,


birth/adop- tion, loss of spousal benefits, etc.).


NEGOTIATING BENEFITS IN 2019 During the 2019 round of central bargaining ETFO negotiated several changes, including increased funding, to the structure of the ETFO-ELHT. Benefit insurers/plans often adopt fi-


nancial accountability practices in order to maintain the health of a benefit plan. This can include establishing a “claims fluctuation reserve” (CFR). A CFR is a reserve of money


36 ETFO VOICE | WINTER 2022


that is set aside by an insurer to account for an unexpected increase in claims activity. This could be due to, for example, an unan- ticipated epidemic that results in increased prescription drug claims or change to what was traditionally covered by OHIP and would now have to be covered by private plans. Prior to 2019, if the claims fluctuation re-


serve (CFR) was projected to fall below 8.3% in any three-year period, changes to the plan to protect the CFR had to be implemented immediately. This was a concern because a requirement to make immediate changes to the plan did not take into account future increases to benefits funding that could be achieved during bargaining. During the 2019 round of bargaining, ETFO success- fully amended the requirements to recognize that future funding increases had to be taken into account when looking at projected time periods that fell outside of the term of the collective agreement. Another change dealt with the few school


boards that were still providing benefits for retirees. During the 2019 round, ETFO, em- ployer bargaining agencies and the govern- ment agreed on a process to transfer retirees into the ETFO-ELHT until they were no longer eligible for benefits based on the rules from the board in which they worked. The retirees are accounted for separately under this arrangement and do not affect the ben- efits of working members. The parties also agreed to a process and


timeline for all school boards to transfer the surpluses (if any) that existed based on the previous benefits arrangements in school boards. This money has now all been trans- ferred to the ETFO-ELHT to support mem- ber benefits.


Currently, the ETFO-ELHT receives Teachers:


• $5,736 to pay for benefits for a full-time permanent ETFO teacher member;


• $2,868 to pay for benefits for a half-time (0.5) permanent ETFO teacher member.


Education Workers*:


• $5,100 to pay for benefits for a full-time permanent ETFO education worker member;


• $2,550 to pay for benefits for a half- time (0.5) permanent ETFO education worker member.


*Subject to reduction based on reconciliation.


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