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  1. Celebrating our most popular Pivotal Select funds

    In August 2022, Equitable® launched 12 new segregated funds in Pivotal Select’s Investment Class (75/75). We wanted to bring some new innovative solutions to the product, including six sustainable investment funds. To say the launch of these funds was successful would be an understatement.

    The funds are quickly becoming some of the most popular funds in Pivotal Select™, and their performance in 2023 was impressive. Equitable wants to celebrate these funds and encourage clients to consider them for their portfolios.

    As of February 29, 2024, nine out of the 12 funds received a 1st quartile ranking for their 1-year return and two more were 2nd quartile. The table below shows the new funds that ranked in the top two quartiles for their 1-year returns.


    TABLE-1-FINAL-EN.png

    Access additional fund performance information

    If you haven’t looked at these funds yet, now is the time. Speak to clients about their investment options and see if these funds fit within their investment portfolio.

    Talk to your Director, Investment Sales today for more information.

     

    Disclaimer

    Any amount that is allocated to a segregated fund is invested at the risk of the contractholder and may increase or decrease in value. Segregated fund values change frequently, and past performance does not guarantee future results. Investors do not purchase an interest in underlying securities or funds, but rather, an individual variable insurance contract issued by The Equitable Life Insurance Company of Canada. There are risks involved with investing in segregated funds. Please read the Contract and Information Folder before investing for a description of risks relevant to each segregated fund and for a complete description of product features and guarantees. Copies of the Contract and Information Folder are available on equitable.ca.

    Management Expense Ratios (MERs) are based on figures as of February 29, 2024, and are unaudited. MERs may vary at any time. The MER is the combination of the management fee, insurance fee, operating expenses, HST, and any other applicable non-income tax for the fund and for the underlying fund. For clients with larger contract values, a Management Fee Reduction may be available through the Preferred Pricing Program. For details, please see the Pivotal Select Contract and Information Folder.

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

     

    Posted April 18, 2024 

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  3. [pdf] EQUITABLE LIFE: Stability you can count on
  4. [pdf] Equitable Life Dynamic US Monthly Income Fund Select
  5. Extending premium relief for Dental and Extended Health Care benefits

    We know this is a challenging time for Canadian employers and we continue to look for ways to help your clients manage while still supporting their employees.

    As many health practitioners continue to keep their offices closed due to the pandemic restrictions, plan member use of dental benefits and some health benefits remains lower than normal.

    So, we are pleased to announce that we are extending premium relief for all Traditional and myFlex insured non-refund customers for Health and Dental benefits for the month of May, as follows:

    • A 50% reduction on Dental premiums in all provinces except Saskatchewan, where a 25% reduction will apply due to the re-opening of dental clinics in early-May; and
    • A 20% reduction on vision and extended healthcare rates (excluding prescription drugs) in all provinces, which equates to an 8% reduction on Health premiums.

    These reductions are effective for May 2020 and will appear as a credit against the next available billing. We will assess the situation monthly and expect to continue with monthly refunds for as long as the current crisis period continues. The size of the credit may change over time as dentists and other health practitioners gradually reopen their offices. We will confirm premium credits for June (if any) at a later date. Credits for subsequent months will be communicated on a month-by-month basis.

    In order to be eligible for the monthly credit calculation and payout, a policy must be in force on the first of the month and remain in force thereafter. The monthly credit calculation is based on employees in force on the May bill. If employees experienced layoffs during the month, that would not affect eligibility for a premium credit as long as the benefit itself is not terminated.

    We expect that claims experience and premiums will return to normal once the current pandemic restrictions are lifted.

    In the meantime, plan members will continue to have full access to their benefits coverage throughout the pandemic. In many cases, dental offices remain open for emergency services, and a variety of healthcare providers are available virtually.

    Commissions

    We know the pandemic has put financial strain on your business as well, so we will continue to pay full compensation. Although your overall commission will be unaffected by these premium reduction adjustments, you may see a temporary reduction in your commission payments if you are on a pay-as-earned basis. We will begin to process the commission top-up payments in mid-June and will reflect both April and May premium credits.

    Communication

    We will be communicating this premium relief program to your clients later this week.

    Questions?

    If you have any questions, please contact your Group Account Executive or myFlex Sales Manager. In the meantime, we have provided some Questions and Answers below. You can also refer to our online COVID-19 Group Benefits FAQ.

  6. Equitable Life Group Benefits Bulletin – January 2022

    Short-term disability coverage for plan members with COVID-19*

    Please note: This announcement applies only to groups with short-term disability coverage through Equitable Life
     
    As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, and the situation evolves, we continue to adjust our practices to ensure ongoing support for our plan members.
     
    PCR tests no longer required for COVID-related STD claims
     
    Some provinces have recently restricted access to COVID-19 PCR testing to only high-risk individuals. To ensure your clients' eligible plan members receive their short-term disability benefits in a timely manner, we no longer require a positive PCR test for plan members submitting COVID-19-related STD claims.
     
    Plan members who are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 or who have tested positive for the virus (either with a PCR test or with an at-home rapid test) and are unable to work from home should complete the Short Term Disability Plan Member COVID-19 Claim Form (#421A). 
     
    They should indicate the date of the onset of symptoms or date of their positive test result. Where applicable, they should also indicate the date they have been cleared by public health to end their self-isolation. The form includes an attestation that the information they have provided is accurate.
     
    The employer needs to complete the Short Term Disability Employer COVID-19 Claim Form (#421B). They should indicate the expected return-to-work date according to their provincial health guidelines, or using the date provided by a public health official.
     
    Waiting periods for COVID-related STD claims
     
    To support your clients' plan members during the initial stages of the pandemic, we waived the STD waiting period if a plan member’s absence was due to symptoms or a diagnosis of COVID-19.  Now that COVID-19 has become the “new normal,” we are returning to our standard practices and treating the virus as we would any other illness.
     
    Effective Jan. 1, 2022, standard waiting periods will apply for COVID-related STD claims, according to the terms of the Group policy. This ensures that all plan members submitting a STD claim are treated fairly, no matter what the cause of the claim.
     
    Eligible plan members will receive STD benefits up to a maximum of 10 days from the date of the onset of symptoms or a positive COVID-19 test result, minus the waiting period.
     
    For example, if the plan has a five-day waiting period, and the plan member returns to work nine days after a positive test result, they would be eligible for four days of benefits payments.
     
    If the claimant is still unwell after 10 days, then the standard Short Term Disability Claim Form (#421) needs to be completed.  
     
    If a plan member is admitted to hospital, benefits will be paid following the waiting period applicable to hospital claims. 
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  8. Policy endorsement: Contracts and group benefits plan booklet updates related to BC PharmaCare Biosi

    As we announced in the June 2019 issue of eNews, BC PharmaCare recently introduced a new Biosimilars Initiative that ends coverage of three biologic drugs, including Remicade, Enbrel, and Lantus. These drugs will no longer be eligible in British Columbia for most conditions for which lower-cost biosimilar versions are available. Patients in the province with these conditions will be required to switch to biosimilar versions of these drugs by Nov. 25, 2019 in order to maintain their coverage under BC PharmaCare.
     
    The following table outlines the affected originator drugs and their biosimilars.
     

    Drug Originator Biosimilar
    etanercept Enbrel® Brenzys®
    Erelzi™
    infliximab Remicade® Inflectra®
    Renflexis®
    insulin glargine Lantus® Basaglar™

     
    Biologics are drugs that are engineered using living organisms, such as yeast and bacteria. Biosimilars are highly similar to the originator drugs they are based on and most have been shown to have no clinically meaningful differences in safety or efficacy.
     
    To ensure this provincial change doesn’t result in your clients' plans paying additional drug costs, we are aligning our drug eligibility for these three biologic drugs with that of BC PharmaCare.
     
    To facilitate this change, we are amending some of the wording in our contracts and booklets, effective Oct. 1, 2019. Below are links to the Endorsement to the Master Policy and the Summary of Master Booklet Wording Changes for those amendments. Please download and save these policy endorsement documents for your files.
     
    In addition, please remind your clients to provide their plan members with a copy of the Summary of Master Booklet Wording Changes. The next time your clients amend their benefits plans, the updated wording will be included in their group benefits plan booklets

    DOWNLOAD ENDORSEMENT TO THE MASTER POLICY

    DOWNLOAD SUMMARY OF MASTER BOOKLET WORDING CHANGES

    As of Nov. 25, 2019, Remicade and Enbrel will no longer be eligible for BC plan members with conditions for which lower-cost biosimilar versions of the drugs are available. These plan members will be required to switch to the biosimilar versions of these drugs in order to maintain eligibility on the Equitable Life drug plan.
     
    We will be communicating with affected claimants in the coming weeks to allow them ample time to change their prescription and avoid any interruptions in their treatment or their coverage.
     
    We intend to take a similar approach to Lantus. However, we are still investigating the options to implement this change. We will be communicating with you in the coming weeks to confirm our approach for this drug.
     
    If you have any questions about this change, please contact your Group Marketing Manager or myFlex Sales Manager.
     

    ® and ™ denote trademarks of their respective owners

  9. Equitable Life Group Benefits Bulletin - Group Advisor Bonus Enhancement Announcing our Enhanced Group Advisor Bonus Program
     
    We have enhanced our Group Advisor Bonus program to make it more competitive and to help support you in building your business with Equitable Life in 2022. We have updated the structure of the bonus program to make it easier for you to qualify, as well as increased the amounts we pay.
     
    Beginning for sales effective in 2022 we have:
    • Decreased the minimum premium required to qualify for the Sales Bonus to $35,000 from $150,000.
    • Moved away from using Graded Annualized Premium for both the Sales and Persistency Bonus and are using actual Annualized Premium instead, up to a maximum of $500,000 per policy. This simplifies the program and aligns us with the rest of the industry.
    • Increased the Sales Bonus payout to up to 5% of Annualized Premium for Traditional Sales and up to 3% of Annualized Premium for myFlex sales. 
    • Changed the minimum annual premium threshold for the Persistency bonus to $500,000 of capped Annualized Premium from $500,000 of Graded Annualized Premium to make it easier for you to qualify.
    Premiums associated with benefits on retention accounting or Administrative Services Only (ASO), Equitable HealthConnector® services, Group Critical Illness and Health Care Spending Accounts will no longer be counted towards the Sales Bonus.
     
    These enhancements do not apply to advisors who are not part of our standard Advisor Bonus program and who have special bonus arrangements in place. If you have a special bonus arrangement in place and would like to switch to the standard program, please contact your Group Account Executive or myFlex Sales Manager.
     
    Below is a table comparing the current Sales Bonus structure and payout. For full details, please refer to the Group Advisor Compensation and Recognition brochure.
     
    Enhanced Sales Bonus
    For the new Sales Bonus, the Payout Band is based on total combined Traditional and myFlex Benefits new annualized premium (capped at $500,000 per policy). The Sales Bonus Rates for both Traditional sales and myFlex sales are shown in the table below:
     
    New Sales Bonus Rates
    Payout Band Capped Annualized Premium* Sales Bonus Rate
    (from first dollar)
    Traditional Sales myFlex Sales
    1 $34,999 and under 0% 0%
    2 $35,000 to $99,999 3.5% 1.5%
    3 $100,000 and over 5% 3%
    *Total Traditional and myFlex new business sales combined, capped at $500,000 per policy.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    If you have any questions about the Advisor Bonus enhancements, please contact your Group Account Executive or myFlex Sales Manager.
     
  10. Dialogue Virtual Healthcare now available to add to Equitable Life benefits plans

    We’re pleased to announce we are partnering with Dialogue, Canada’s leading virtual health provider, to offer unlimited and on-demand virtual access to primary healthcare practitioners.
     
    Virtual Healthcare is the latest addition to our HealthConnector suite of health and wellness services. It is available to add to all Equitable Life benefits plans for an additional cost as of July 1, 2023.

    Features of Dialogue Virtual Healthcare
    Available 24/7, 365 days a year, Dialogue Virtual Healthcare provides access to unlimited non-urgent medical care for a wide range of health concerns. Plan members get fast access to the largest, most experienced and bilingual medical team in Canada for non-urgent medical issues. They also benefit from in-app prescription renewals and refills, personalized follow-ups after every consultation, and concierge-level navigation support for all referrals to in-person specialists when needed.

    Dialogue’s industry-leading platform provides an all-in-one patient journey to address health issues, reducing long wait times and time away for doctor appointments. Plan members and their families can access Dialogue Virtual Healthcare through the secure web portal or mobile app. The Dialogue medical team includes doctors, nurse practitioners and nurses. Plan members can use the service even if they’re already receiving care from a family doctor.


    Benefits of Virtual Healthcare

    For your clients
    By providing access to Virtual Healthcare, plan sponsors can help to:

    • Drive employee engagement;

    • Reduce absenteeism related to in-person medical appointments;

    • Manage chronic health issues;

    • Attract and retain top talent; and

    • Build a healthier workforce.

    For their plan members
    By providing easier access to primary healthcare practitioners, Virtual Healthcare can offer extra health and wellness support for plan members. It also supports members that may experience barriers to accessing in-person healthcare, such as:

    • Living in a remote location;

    • Work or family obligations during standard medical clinic hours;

    • Mobility challenges related to a disability; and

    • Transportation challenges.

    Learn more about bringing Dialogue Virtual Healthcare to your clients
    Click the link to learn more about Dialogue Virtual Healthcare : Welcome to Dialogue!

    Questions?
    To learn more about how your clients can add Virtual Healthcare to their benefits plan, please contact your Group Account Executive or myFlex Sales Manager.