March 2026 eNews
In this issue:
Equitable is adding nutrition app to all group benefits plans*Coming soon: One-time passcodes will be added to account login process*
Standardized CLHIA disability form is now part of our disability claims submission package*
Reminder: Review manual allocations for HCSAs and/or TSAs*
Protecting clients’ plans from benefits fraud*
*Indicates content that will be shared with your clients.
Equitable is adding nutrition app to all group benefits plans
Equitable is making healthy eating easier and more accessible for all group benefits plan members. Beginning in April, access to the RxFood mobile app will be added to every Equitable group benefits plan—at no extra cost.
This will put personalized nutrition insights, practical tips and tailored recommendations at every plan member’s fingertips—helping them make more informed food choices that can either help prevent or manage chronic conditions, such as diabetes, high cholesterol and heart disease.
What is RxFood?
RxFood is Canada’s first clinically validated nutrition platform that’s used and trusted by leading health care institutions across the country, including SickKids Hospital, Diabetes Canada, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) and more, to support better health outcomes through nutrition.
While we can track many aspects of our daily health—steps, heart rate, sleep, and blood sugar—food is often overlooked. RxFood helps close that gap by using technology that’s powered by artificial intelligence (AI) to turn everyday meals into meaningful health insights.
How it works
A plan member takes photos of their meals with their smartphone. RxFood will analyze what's on their plate, from nutritional quality to portion sizes, then provide personalized feedback, easy-to-follow suggestions and recipes with ingredient options tailored to their budget.
After a few days of logging, they’ll receive a comprehensive nutrition summary showing how their eating patterns align with their personal health goals, and where to go from there.
Check out the following video to learn more about RxFood— and how Equitable is putting the power to eat healthy in the hands of plan members.
Coming soon: One-time passcodes will be added to account login process
This spring, Equitable will launch a new multi-factor authentication (MFA) security measure to further enhance our digital security. When our new feature takes effect, anyone logging in to EquitableHealth.ca® and the Equitable EZClaim® mobile app with an email address and password may be required to enter a one-time passcode they receive via email. This will further safeguard their account access and personal data.
Keep it simple – create a passkey
If you don’t want to enter a one-time passcode when logging into your account, you can skip this extra step all together by creating a passkey on your mobile device or computer.
Passkeys are safe and provide a quicker, easier way to log in while also enhancing account security. They use either biometrics–your face or fingerprint–or a PIN authenticator to confirm your identity.
If you create and use a passkey to log in, you won’t need to enter a one-time passcode.
Learn more about passkeys. The set-up process is simple. The two videos below guide you through creating a passkey on both your mobile device and computer.
Client and plan member communications
We will share this information with clients and group benefits plan members before we introduce our new security measure. Please reach out to your Group Account Executive if you have any questions.
Standardized CLHIA disability form is now part of our disability claims submission package
Clients with employees who are submitting short-term or long-term disability claims should be aware that we’ve changed one of the required forms in our disability claim submission package.
The Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association’s (CLHIA) Initial Disability Insurance Medical Statement has replaced our Attending Physician’s Statement (APS) form.
Our disability claim application packages on Equitable.ca and EquitableHealth.ca now include the CLHIA standardized form instead of our APS form. Our old form is no longer available on our websites.
We will continue accepting our previous APS form for initiating disability claims for now. However, we’re encouraging clients to begin using the standardized form as soon as possible. Using a standardized form for disability claims across the group insurance industry helps reduce the administrative burden on physicians by simplifying the disability application process.
If you have any questions, please contact your Group Account Executive.
Reminder: Review manual allocations for HCSAs and/or TSAs
If your client’s Health Care Spending Account (HCSA) and/or Taxable Spending Account (TSA) has manual allocations, they need to allocate these amounts to plan members each year.
Plan administrators can update these amounts on EquitableHealth.ca. Here are the steps:
- 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
- Select Reports
- Select New
- Select Next
- Select HCSA or TSA Totals by Plan Member
- Select Next
- Enter end date of 12/31/2026
- Select Next
- Select Finish
- View Report
Protecting clients’ plans from benefits fraud
March is Fraud Prevention month – the perfect time for clients to educate their plan members on the consequences of benefits fraud.
According to the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (CLHIA), benefits fraud costs millions each year and can contribute to higher premiums for plan sponsors.
These resources can help clients and plan members prevent benefits fraud:
- CLHIA’s free 15-minute Protect Your Benefits online course for plan administrators and their members
- CLHIA’s Fraud is Fraud program, including their FAQs on benefits fraud
- CLHIA's 10 tips to 'Protect your benefits' for plan members
How we protect against benefits fraud
Our Investigative Claims Unit (ICU) uses a range of techniques, including CLHIA‑led tools, to detect and prevent benefits fraud:
- Joint Provider Fraud Investigation Program: Allows insurers to collaborate on fraud investigations that affect multiple insurers.
- Data Pooling Program: Pools data between insurers and uses advanced artificial intelligence (AI) to further identify and reduce benefits fraud.
- Provider Alert Registry: Allows insurers to view the results of other insurers’ anti-fraud investigations into specific practitioners.
To learn more, contact your Group Account Executive.