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  • 15.1.5 Open Comment Period: September 14 - September 28, 2023

    Sep 14, 2023 9:00 am by Policy Office

    The Office of the Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Comptroller announces an open comment period for a new policy titled: 15.1.5 International Travel Insurance from September 14 to September 28, 2023. This policy requires University of Illinois System employees traveling internationally on system business to enroll in international travel insurance.

    The system pays the insurance premium for system business travel for employees, but enrollment is required in order to properly document travel and coverage and ensure reimbursement of travel expenses.

    Highlights include:

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    • If you have questions about the updates to policy, please contact the CFO Business and Finance Policy Office at obfspolicies@uillinois.edu.

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Comments

tkavuk1@uic.edu Oct 13, 2023 4:05 pm
Reposting as my original comment does not appear in the list. It should be made very clear in the policy and in all international travel pages (travel roster & Gallagher) that the travel insurance does *not* apply if the destination country is the same as the traveler's "Home Country" which is defined as country of passport, and also includes the Covered Person’s Country of Permanent Assignment or Country of Permanent Residence. If the insurance does not apply to the individual, the policy should make clear what needs to be done by both the traveler and/or their travel arranger. For example, an automated confirmation email from the travel roster that the traveler enrolled in the roster but does not qualify for the insurance could be attached to the expense reports.
Reply to tkavuk1@uic.edu at 4:05 pm
rchamber@uic.edu Sep 27, 2023 3:31 pm
This is very positive step for the university to ensure the safety of students and employees traveling internationally. I fully compliment the university for considering it. My only caution is to those may criticize the policy...to soon! Even with a very detailed review of the policy before rolling it out, everyone should be aware that there will be a few early bumps in the road. As the kinks in the system get worked out, it should be a much smoother ride as time passes. There is simply no way to think of everything before the rollout. It will be okay to make minor adjustments and edits along the way! Thank you!
Reply to rchamber@uic.edu at 3:31 pm
wkunde@illinois.edu Sep 26, 2023 3:11 pm
While many of us can understand making this insurance mandatory, it does not list the timeline of enrollment. For instance, does the travel insurance need to be approved prior to the purchase of airline tickets, conference registration, lodging, etc.? Some of the previous comments have valid concerns in terms of purchasing airfare at the direction of their boss. If this documentation isn’t provided at the time the TCard charge is reconciled for airfare, with whom does the responsibility lie? The purchaser? Or the traveler? And further, in some cases, airfare is purchased with personal funds long before any travel notification/approval is obtained. Does this mean that if the travel insurance isn’t dated in advance of any purchases that the traveler cannot be reimbursed? Or in the case of a TCard purchase, is the traveler responsible for reimbursing the University if the timeline is not followed? For those of us on the front line, this needs to be spelled out more clearly and succinctly.
Reply to wkunde@illinois.edu at 3:11 pm
sfpower2@illinois.edu Sep 26, 2023 1:58 pm
It would be helpful if the insurance enrollment form *required* the traveler to enter their business office (or business manager's) contact information and if that email were then copied when enrollment is both requested and approved/confirmed, including a copy of the confirmation letter.
Reply to sfpower2@illinois.edu at 1:58 pm
shaw14@illinois.edu Sep 25, 2023 2:57 pm
I want to echo the concerns about having the documentation in time for t-card charges. Another concern that we had when this insurance first rolled out was making sure it was clear that getting the insurance is ultimately THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TRAVELER despite the ability to proxy for someone. Who is responsible for securing the insurance for the correct dates is unclear as the policy is currently written.
Reply to shaw14@illinois.edu at 2:57 pm
salomel@illinois.edu Sep 18, 2023 9:44 am
If this new policy comes into effect, it means that staff will have to wait until they get proof of travel insurance enrollment from travelers before purchasing anything with their T-Card on behalf of the travelers. This would, in most cases, delay the purchase of travel arrangement, with result of having to purchase more expensive services, such as airfare, etc. Indeed, if this new policy comes into effect, I personally will wait until I receive proof of travel insurance enrollment from travelers before purchasing anything for them with my T-Card, because otherwise, I might be stuck with many T-Card transactions which I will not be able to reconcile, because it would no longer be compliant to reconcile a T-Card transaction without documented proof of travel insurance enrollment.
Reply to salomel@illinois.edu at 9:44 am
rebekah2@illinois.edu Sep 18, 2023 9:44 am
I am curious to know--if a UIUC employee/traveler is in compliance with the insurance policy but the staff submitting an expense report on their behalf is unable to get the receipt showing the insurance policy was purchased within the time frame that the T-Card charges must be processed (for instance, if a flight was purchased with a staff T-Card and the traveler did sign up for the insurance however when they were traveling they were unresponsive to emails and did not provide the receipt to the staff person preparing the expense report in a timely manner), will the staff member's expense report be returned? Will the processing of that T-Card expense report be delayed based on not having this included?
Reply to rebekah2@illinois.edu at 9:44 am
jmwright@illinois.edu Sep 14, 2023 2:19 pm
As is common, if someone travels internationally and decides to stay a few extra days at their own cost, don't they still have to be covered during their return trip, and will they be able to factor that in? For instance, faculty travels for business October 1 - 7 for conference, and decides to stay until the 14th. Would they be able to have coverage October 1-7 & 14th? Also: "Travelers requiring significant cancellation or interruption benefits should augment this policy with additional kkinsurance [sic]" This is at their own expense, right?
Reply to jmwright@illinois.edu at 2:19 pm