Dental Fund
HGSU-UAW Dental Fund Summary and FAQs
The contract between Harvard University and the Harvard Graduate Student Union (HGSU-UAW) establishes a fund of $595,000 to help defray the cost of premiums and copays under the Harvard University student dental insurance plan, and dental expenses in general. Visit the Benefits Overview page to learn about upcoming deadlines.
All applications will open at least 6 weeks before the deadline. Student workers may submit their application for reimbursements here.
Eligibility and Coverage
To be eligible to receive funds from the Fund, a person must:
- be a student enrolled in a Harvard University degree program;
- be employed as a Research Assistant (but not an undergraduate Research Assistant), Teaching Fellow, Instructional Fellow, Pedagogical Fellow, or Course Assistant in at least 1 academic term in the contract year;
- receive pay on a salaried basis OR receive pay on an hourly basis and have worked at least 280 hours either between January 1 and June 30, 2023 or between July 1 and December 31, 2023; and
- have no dental insurance, or be enrolled only in the Dental Blue Comprehensive or Preventive Plan and not in any other dental insurance plan, or be enrolled as a dependent on a spouse, partner, or parent’s dental insurance plan and not in any other dental insurance plan.
Eligibility can be complicated, so we created this guide to help you figure out which expenses are eligible at which deadline. You may need to go through this cheat sheet a few times to account for all the periods in which you may have been working.
If you are enrolled in the Dental Blue Comprehensive Plan, the premium, deductible, and all out-of-pocket expenses are covered and eligible for reimbursement. If you are enrolled in the Dental Blue Preventative Plan, the premium, deductible, and 60% of all out-of-pocket expenses are covered and eligible for reimbursement.
If you are uninsured, 100% of preventative expenses and 40% of non-preventative expenses are eligible for reimbursement. Applicants enrolled as dependents on a parent or partner’s insurance are eligible for up to 40% reimbursement of non-preventative expenses. Expenses and premiums for dependents enrolled on workers’ Dental Blue insurance are eligible for reimbursement.
Application Questions
If you are unable to log in to our application to apply via HarvardKey, that means that you have not worked in an HGSU-UAW eligible position in the relevant time period (July 1, 2023–present) according to the records Harvard has shared with us. If you are planning to teach this semester, try accessing the fund the first week after your class meets; you should appear in our records by then. If you have worked in an HGSU-UAW eligible position and still can’t access the application, email hgsu.benefits@gmail.com with your HGSU-UAW appointment letter and we will help you get access to the application.
Fund Rules - In Plain English
Section
Dental
Scope
Dental care premiums (Harvard SHIP only), copays, and out-of-pocket expenses for student worker and eligible dependents
Eligibility
Appointed to an eligible position in the bargaining unit at one point in the contract year covered by application; can be enrolled in Harvard SHIP, another insurance, or no insurance
Application Timeline
Salaried workers: expenses April 15 to date at the November deadline; expenses July to date at the May deadline
Hourly workers who became eligible in the previous spring semester can get the previous year’s expenses covered at the November deadline
Benefit Structure
Pool
Determination of Benefit Amounts
Are there fixed costs/grants?
Yes—SHIP premium
Are there variable costs?
Yes—reimbursable proportion of covered expenses depends on insurance status and whether care is preventive (e.g. cleaning) or non-preventive (e.g. fillings)
When does household income affect reimbursement?
When eligible expenses exceed available fund amount
Maximum annual payout
$3,500
Typical documentation
Screenshot of enrollment (SHIP premium only), receipts (all other expenses)
Applications
SmarterSelect, open from 6 weeks before next deadline
January Review; Fund Governance
Minor changes made by vote of FBC; major changes are subject to HGSU membership vote
Full Rules
For full (legalese) version of the rules, please go here. For the most granular information on expenses we cover, refer to bullet point 1 of the Section entitled “Determination of Benefit Amounts.”