EquiNet Equitable Life's advisor site

Site Search

1362 results for if

  1. 5 Things You Need to Know About Equitable Generations Universal Life

    Here are five things you need to know about Equitable Generations™ Universal Life

    1. Affordability

    Because Equitable Life is owned by its policyholders, we don’t have to worry about paying shareholders. That means we can focus on offering competitive pricing!

    2. Investments

    Equitable Generations Universal Life is built for the 21st century with investment options that matter to today’s buyer including Target date, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) funds for sustainable investing.

    3. Fees

    Equitable Generations has eliminated most universal life fund administration fees as well as the policy administration fee.

    4. KIND™

    Equitable Generations has a suite of contractual and non-contractual claims features we call KIND, designed to help your family navigate the claims process with ease.

    5. Flexibility

    With such competitive pricing, fantastic investment options and minimal fees. Equitable Generations Universal Life provides a level of flexibility rarely seen in the Universal Life space.


     

    See Equitable Generations Universal Life for yourself within one minute - try the EZStart quick quote software for advisors, available on EquiNet!

    Please contact your local wholesaler for more information. 

    TM and ® denote trademarks of The Equitable Life Insurance Company of Canada. 

  2. Equitable Life Group Benefits Bulletin - October 2022

    Introducing new Gender Affirmation Coverage for group benefits plans

    Providing an inclusive benefits plan can play a critical role in fostering a workplace culture that welcomes diversity and helps employees thrive. While most provinces cover the cost of gender-affirming surgery, each person has unique needs. Some may require procedures that are not publicly covered.

    That’s why we’re pleased to introduce a new coverage option for gender affirmation surgical procedures that are not covered by provincial health plans. Gender Affirmation Coverage helps plan sponsors to close the gap where provincial health coverage ends. 

    Coverage details and eligibility

    Gender Affirmation Coverage can be added to any Equitable Life plan with an in-force Extended Health Care plan. It provides coverage for gender-affirming procedures that are not covered by provincial health plans. This might include tracheal (Adam’s apple) shaving and voice surgery. It will also cover some additional procedures to further align the plan member’s features to the transitioned gender, such as facial bone reduction and cheek augmentation. This makes a wider variety of gender-affirming surgeries accessible to plan members and helps minimize their out-of-pocket costs.

    Plan members are eligible for coverage with a diagnosis of gender dysphoria from a qualified health care professional. 

    Offering a more inclusive benefits plan

    The coverage provides one more way for your clients to offer more inclusive coverage and to offer holistic support to their plan members undergoing a gender transition. We have developed this coverage as a complement to our existing coverage options, including Health Care Spending Accounts (HCSAs), Taxable Spending Accounts (TSAs), Extended Health Care and drug coverage, and Employee and Family Assistance Programs, all of which can provide support to plan members undergoing gender affirmation.

    We regularly review our products to ensure that they’re meeting your clients’ needs, and we’re committed to offering products that support diversity, equity and inclusion.

    We also continue to review our forms, documents and processes to make them more inclusive. This includes reviewing our online plan member enrolment (OPME) tool to allow for more flexibility with the way plan members identify their gender. 

    Gender affirmation and mental well-being

    Gender affirmation procedures can lead to improved mental health outcomes for those with gender dysphoria, as most report an improvement in their quality of life following the procedures. Gender dysphoria may occur when a person’s assigned sex at birth does not match their identity, and people experiencing gender dysphoria typically report psychological and emotional distress, including symptoms of depression or anxiety. By offering coverage where provincial health coverage ends, your clients can support plan members as they seek procedures that align their body presentation with their self-identified gender.
     

    Advantages at a glance

    Advantages for plan members include:
    • Reimbursement for some procedures and expenses, leading to fewer out-of-pocket costs
    • May experience improved mental health outcomes after surgery
    Advantages for plan sponsors include:
    • A benefits plan that promotes a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion, which may build employee loyalty
    • Support for plan member mental health to help those with gender dysphoria thrive
    For more information about how Equitable Life benefits plans can support the needs of those seeking gender affirmation surgery view our resources:  You can also contact your Group Account Executive for more information. If you have clients with myFlex plans who are interested in Gender Affirmation Coverage, please contact your myFlex Sales Manager to determine eligibility. 
     

    The Benefits Canada 2022 Health Care Survey results are in!

    Equitable Life is proud to be a Platinum sponsor for The Benefits Canada 2022 Health Care Survey, Canada’s leading survey on workplace benefits plans. This year’s survey report highlights many fascinating insights across a wide variety of benefits topics, including:
    • A focus on mental health for both plan sponsors and plan members
    • The repercussions of the "shadow" pandemic due to health care delays 
    • Trends in plan members' overall perceptions of their health benefits plans
    • The types of benefits getting more attention from plan members
    • The role of remote work in plan member satisfaction
    By surveying plan members and plan sponsor representatives across Canada each year, Benefits Canada works with its Advisory Board to provide timely insights on the employee benefits issues that are most important to Canadians. This year, our Group Vice-President of Western Sales, Meghan Vallis, has provided her expertise as an Advisory Board member.

    We’re committed to helping you and your clients navigate the evolving landscape of employee benefits in Canada by contributing to this vibrant industry community. To read the full report, visit Benefits Canada.
     

    HCSA and TSA manual allocation reminder

    If your clients’ Health Care Spending Account (HCSA) and/or Taxable Spending Account (TSA) have manual allocations, they need to allocate these amounts to plan members each year. Clients should review their plan members’ profiles on EquitableHealth.ca to ensure they have received their allocation(s) for the current benefit year. Your clients may also order HCSA and TSA forfeiture reports on EquitableHealth.ca. 
     
    If your clients have Plan Administrator update access on EquitableHealth.ca, they can update these amounts online by doing the following:
    • Select View certificate
    • Select Health Care Spending Account or Taxable Spending Account
    • Select Update Allocation in Task Center
    • Enter amount in Revised Allocation Amount
    • Override Reason – Plan Administrator Request
    • Select Save
    If your clients have Plan Administrator reporting access on EquitableHealth.ca, they can determine which plan members have a zero allocation by running the HCSA Totals by Plan Member report online by doing the following:
    • Select Reports
    • Select New
    • Select Next
    • Select HCSA or TSA Totals by Plan Member
    • Select Next
    • Enter end date of 12/31/2022
    • Select Next
    • Select Finish
    • View Report
    To provide us with the amounts to be updated, please have your client contact our Group Benefits Administration Team at GroupBenefitsAdmin@equitable.ca. 

     
  3. Equitable Life Group Benefits Bulletin - September 2022

    Homewood Health launches Sentio, an upgraded iCBT platform

    Equitable Life’s mental health partner, Homewood Health, has launched Sentio, an upgraded platform for Internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy (iCBT). This self-directed platform is now available to all Equitable Life clients, and it replaces Homewood’s previous iCBT platform, i-Volve.

    Sentio Self-Directed iCBT is a comprehensive digital cognitive behavioural therapy platform. Developed by Homewood’s mental health experts, it is an action-oriented solution for plan members, giving them practical resources and activities to help with their depression, anxiety and overall mental health challenges.
     
    Available as a standalone app, on mobile, tablet and desktop, Sentio contains over 20 unique treatment goals for issues like stress management, improving sleep, managing depressive thoughts, and coping with panic. Users can work through treatment goals in any order, at their own pace. It also includes tools and resources to help plan members build skills and change their thought patterns. 

    Sentio iCBT benefits

    Sentio integrates seamlessly with Homewood Pathfinder so that users can easily locate and take advantage of the iCBT activities available. Sentio also includes a number of unique features:
    • More interactive features and activities to help plan members build valuable mental health skills
    • Integrated symptom measurement and progress tracking
    • Interactive multimedia learning and cognitive exercises to enhance learning
    • Progress, learnings, and exercises that have been accessed are available to be re-accessed for 12 months 
    Access to i-Volve will end 30 days after your clients received access to Sentio, but plan members can complete any in-progress sessions until then.

    Please contact your Group Account Executive or myFlex Sales Manager if you have any questions.
     

    Streamlining disability claims with Opifiny

     Equitable Life is partnering with Opifiny to provide a quicker and more seamless disability claims experience.
     
    Opifiny is an online platform that streamlines the disability claims process for consulting physicians, benefits plan sponsors, and disability plan members. Equitable Life will be using Opifiny for ongoing disability claims management, modernizing the process of gathering medical assessments and information.
     
    Disability claims frequently involve several instances of correspondence between Equitable Life and the plan member’s medical team. By using the secure platform, health care professionals can access, respond to and process medical insurance requests easily from any device. They can typically complete administrative tasks associated with disability claims in a quarter of the time. The platform is secure and protects the privacy of their patients’ confidential information.
     
    By digitizing and modernizing the claims management process for doctors, Equitable Life will have faster access to higher quality claims information. For some claims, using Opifiny may enable Equitable Life to help plan members safely return to work sooner.
     

    Reminder: Obtaining plan member signatures on all administration forms

    Please remind your clients that plan members must sign all administration forms, including enrolment forms, benefits change forms, and beneficiary designation forms. Once completed, a plan administrator can keep the form or send it to us. We are not able to accept a beneficiary designation that has not been signed by the plan member. Having appropriately signed forms helps to ensure that any life insurance claims are paid to the intended recipients.

    For your clients’ convenience, forms can be signed electronically using one of our approved vendors, which include DocuSign, BambooHR, Adobe Sign, and many more.

    If you have questions about providing signed forms, please contact your Group Account Executive or myFlex Sales Manager.
     

    Correction: Coverage for full-time students and dependents with disabilities

    In our August edition of eNews, we provided incorrect information about benefits coverage options for over-age dependents. We indicated that over-age dependents who are full-time students may continue to be eligible under the plan member’s benefits plan if they are studying in their home province. However, attending a post-secondary institution in their home province is not a requirement for continued eligibility. Dependents who are full-time students may continue to be eligible for coverage regardless of where in Canada they are attending post-secondary education.

    If your clients have any questions about extending coverage for over-age dependents that are full-time students, please notify them of this error.
     
    We apologize for any inconvenience or confusion this may have caused.


     
  4. Equitable Life of Canada Fall Roadshow - Savings & Retirement


    Equitable Life® recently completed a successful roadshow in four major Canadian cities. We know that not all advisors were able to attend in person. That's why, we are inviting you to join us for a VIRTUAL ROADSHOW SESSION. Equitable Life, Invesco and S&P Dow Jones Indices will bring you insights, updates, and information on our new segregated fund lineup and more.  

     

    Learn more








    During our virtual session, you will hear from
     
    cam-(1).jpg Cam Crosbie
     Vice President, Savings & Retirement
     Equitable Life of Canada
     


    Photo.jpg Scott Stobo
     Director, Product Development, Savings & Retirement
     Equitable Life of Canada
     


    marcus-berry.jpg Marcus Berry
     Vice President, ETF Specialist
     Invesco
     


    Brent-Kopp-395.jpg Brent Kopp
     Senior Director, Wealth Management Channel
     S&P Dow Jones Indices

     
  5. Equitable Life Webcast Series featuring Fidelity Investments


    Equitable Life® continues to spotlight various aspects of our competitive fund lineup and product offerings. This series gives advisors an opportunity to:

    • learn more about products and product features,

    • hear from industry professionals,

    • learn about investment strategies; and so much more.




    In this webcast, we welcome

    speaker-(2).jpg

    Join us to learn about the Equitable Life Fidelity® Climate Leadership Balanced Fund Select and Equitable Life Fidelity® Climate Leadership Fund Select now available in Pivotal SelectTM Investment Class (75/75). Learn about the funds’ people, process, philosophy, and performance.


    Learn more

    You won’t want to miss it!

  6. Submit PADs in a fraction of the time? It’s true…


    Skip the paperwork and get Pre-Authorized Debit requests submitted instantly!

    Are you still submitting pre-authorized debit (PAD) requests via fax or email? You could be saving time and effort by using EZtransactTM instead:

    • Pick the client's name from your list of clients.

    • Choose the bank account from a list of pre-filled options.

    • Have the client e-sign the form.

    • Hit submit – form is sent to Equitable instantly.

    • Your MGA office receives a copy at the same time.

     
    No more scanning, saving, uploading, emailing, or faxing.

    banner2.jpg
     
    Get to know EZtransact in time for RRSP season and fast-forward your sales process.


    sandbox.jpg  site.jpg 
     

    ™ or ® denote trademarks of The Equitable Life Insurance Company of Canada.
  7. An Exciting Fund Lineup Offered with Equitable Generations Equitable Generations™ is a Universal Life product that offers investment options that resonate with today’s 21st century client while reducing every fee possible. It also reduces the cost of insurance to help clients maximize their opportunity to purchase coverage and build tax-advantaged wealth.

    Fund Features of Equitable Generations:

    ● 34 fund options, including 18 new investment options, tracking funds managed by Fidelity™, Dynamic™, Invesco™ and more.
    ● 3 sustainable investment “ESG” (Environmental, Social & Governance) options – because today’s buyer cares as much about impact as they do about returns.
    ● Target date funds that auto-rebalance over time so that as a client approaches retirement, the fund adjusts its risk automatically.

    Learn more about our new funds:

    ● American Equity Index (ESG)
    ● Canadian Equity Index (ESG)
    ● Special Situations fund (Fidelity)
    ● Sustainable Equity, Balanced, and Bond Funds (Fidelity)
    ● Target Date funds (Fidelity)
    ● Details on funds available
    ● Get all your ESG questions answered with Margaret Dorn, S&P

    NewFundLineup.png
  8. Update: Employment Insurance (EI) Sickness Benefit Extension As it proposed in its 2022 Budget, the federal government has confirmed it is extending the Employment Insurance (EI) Sickness Benefits period from 15 weeks to 26 weeks later this year. The official implementation date and details have not yet been confirmed by the government and we will share further details once they are available. In the meantime, here’s what you need to know.
     
    We will not require or implement any changes to our disability plan designs based on this extension. However, plan sponsors may wish to amend their short-term disability (STD) and long-term disability (LTD) plans and policies to align with the new 26-week EI period. 

    Impact to short-term disability (STD) benefits integrated with EI

    Plan sponsors with EI-integrated STD may wish to adjust their benefits to line up with the new 26-week extension. 

    Impact to plans with no STD benefits

    For plan sponsors who do not offer STD, they have the option of adjusting their LTD plans to the new 26-week elimination period if members claim EI prior to LTD. This adjustment would help to avoid the plan member receiving disability and EI payments at the same time and potentially being required to return funds due to overpayment. 

    Considerations for plan sponsors

    Plan sponsors who amend their STD or LTD policies to align with the new 26-week EI period should note that there may be inadvertent delays to their employees’ return to work. While collecting EI, injured or ill employees do not benefit from our early intervention services or rigorous claims management practices that could help them get back to work sooner. So, by delaying the availability of STD or LTD coverage, the advantages that these programs are intended to provide could also be delayed. 

    Impact to Premium Reduction Program (PRP)

    The Premium Reduction Program (PRP) allows employers with eligible short-term disability plans to pay lower EI premiums. The eligibility criteria have not changed at this time. The government plans to review the PRP in 2024.

    Questions

    If you have questions about these changes or what they mean for your clients’ disability plans, please contact your Group Account Executive or myFlex Sales Manager.
     
  9. Backdating of insurance applications – New rule now in effect

    Great news! We are making it even easier for you to do business with Equitable Life®. We now allow backdating of life insurance applications by up to 364 days. Previously, the maximum backdating period was six (6) months.

    Backdating can result in lower total premiums for the client over the life of a policy based on their younger age at time of application. But clients must pay all the premiums due for the backdated period up front. Thus, backdating is only beneficial when the total premium savings over the life of the policy are greater than the premium due for the backdated period.
     
    To request backdating beyond six (6) months (up to 364 days)
     No special approval is needed. Simply add a note to the Advisor Sheet requesting backdating or contact us at any time prior to policy issue. This step is only necessary when backdating beyond six (6) months as the application will automatically prompt to save age within the 6-month period.
     
    Note: The maximum backdating period for critical illness (CI) applications remains unchanged at three (3) months.

    Questions? Please contact your Equitable Life Regional Sales Manager for more information. 
     
     
     

  10. Equitable Life Savings & Retirement Webinar Series featuring Payout Annuities.


    This month, Equitable Life is featuring a discussion on Payout Annuities. Hear why payout annuities provide a guaranteed income that is worry-free and receive insights into how a payout annuity can fit into a client’s retirement plan.
     
    Join your host, Shannon Labby, Regional Vice President, National Investment Sales as she welcomes Nicole Lemon, Product Manager, Savings and Retirement, Equitable Life of Canada for a discussion on Equitable Life’s Payout Annuities.

     

    Learn more
     

    Continuing Education Credits
    This webinar has been submitted for continuing education (CE) approval with the Insurance Council of Manitoba and Alberta Insurance Council for all provinces excluding Quebec. Upon approval, you will be sent an email notification to come back to the webinar presentation console to download your personalized certificate from the tool bar. To be eligible for CE credits, you must register individually, watch the webcast in full and complete a short quiz. This webcast is available in English only.