Site Search
744 results for go online quick MAKEMUR.COM get out of jail without paying full amount
-
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.
- About
-
Take the helm in 2024 with insights from leading investment experts
Find out what our panel of leading investment experts are saying about the markets and how they are positioning their portfolios. Learn about the themes and forces driving markets and where there are opportunities.
-
• Equitable Asset Management Group - Dave Irwin, AVP, External Fund Management.
-
• Fidelity Investments - Ilan Kolet, Institutional Portfolio Manager, Global Asset Allocation (GAA) Group.
-
• Franklin Bissett (ClearBridge) Investment Management - Les Stelmach, Senior Vice President, Portfolio Manager.
-
• Mackenzie Bluewater Team - Shah Khan, Vice President, Portfolio Manager.
Cam Crosbie, Executive Vice-President, Savings & Retirement will highlight some of the ways Equitable can help make 2024 a great year. We’ve got everything you need and more!
Posted January 3, 2024
Learn more!
Continuing Education Credits
This webcast 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.
™ and ® denote trademarks of The Equitable Life Insurance Company of Canada -
-
Celebrating our wins – 2023 Individual Insurance Marketing Recap
Equitable® would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and we are looking forward to doing more business together in 2024!
As we start a brand new year, we would like to share with you some highlights of our 2023 initiatives in Individual Insurance. These projects aimed to make it easier to do business and enrich your experience of working with us.
Digital & Administration Enhancements
Our 2023 digital transformation initiatives ensured smoother processes, streamlined operations, and improved user experiences for advisors and clients:
● Digital Transactions for Universal Life Plans
● Text Notifications Keep You Informed on Your New Business
● New Online Policy Loan Form
● EZcomplete Enhancement for Critical Illness
● New Life & CI Application
Product Updates
Equally pivotal were our efforts in enhancing our individual life insurance solutions to empower you to confidently recommend us to clients:
● A Tune-Up for Equimax
● The Equimax Evolution Continues
● Critical Illness Insurance Update
● New Dividend Scale Interest Rate
To learn more about the above initiatives, kindly reach out to your local wholesaler.
Thank you for entrusting us with your business in 2023!
Continue watching for news from Equitable for more great launches and enhancements in 2024!
® or TM denote trademarks of The Equitable Life Insurance Company of Canada -
Making it easier to do business with us
At Equitable® we are always looking for ways to improve your experience with us. We’ve made the following enhancements to make it easier for you to put your business with us.
New and Improved UL Fund Performance page
Access more fund performance information faster and easier on our new and improved Fund Overview & Performance website for funds held within Equitable universal life policies.
We partnered with Fundata to build a central location for fund performance, fund information (available in web and PDF) and Management Expense Ratios (MERs). This fund reporting will be available for all our universal life business (both legacy products and products currently being sold).
Highlights include:
● Save your favourite funds for easy access.
● Fund search and tools to filter by product, asset class and sustainability.
● Share feature allows you to easily share fund information with clients.
● Ability to compare fund performance.
Check out the new Fund Overview & Performance website today. See how Equitable is making fund information faster and easier to access.
New “Update Payment” feature for banking changes has launched!
Great news! We have launched a new self-serve "Update Payment" feature in Client Access and on EquiNet®. This new online capability enables clients and advisors to easily submit key banking change requests for eligible insurance policies*, with no need to complete a physical form.
*The Update Payment transactions are only available for eligible policies: those that have not lapsed, are not on Automatic Premium Loan, and are not owned by a corporation or other entity.
What’s new? Clients and advisors can now submit banking changes via EquiNet under Policy Inquiry. It allows them to easily submit requests for the following: stop and resume pre-authorized payments or change banks. Learn more.
Speak to your individual life wholesaler to learn more about these great enhancements!
® or TM denotes a trademark of The Equitable Life Insurance Company of Canada -
Deposits to the Fidelity Special Situations mutual fund are being limited but the segregated fund is
Fidelity Investments® recently said they would no longer accept deposits from new investors into the Fidelity® Special Situations Fund. This notice however does not affect Equitable Life® clients.
The Special Situations Fund will continue to be open to new and existing Equitable Life clients. This includes clients with Pivotal Select™, Pivotal Solutions* or Personal Investment Portfolio segregated funds contracts.
Why is Fidelity limiting access to the mutual fund?
This award-winning mutual fund has grown significantly and now has $3.6 billion of managed assets. To preserve the integrity of the fund’s investment strategy, Fidelity® decided to limit inflows to the fund. Limiting the amount of managed assets held within the fund allows the fund’s portfolio manager to focus on what he does best - finding special situation investment opportunities and capitalizing on positive change within companies and industries across Canada and around the world.
If you like the Special Situations mutual fund, you will value the Equitable Life Fidelity® Special Situations segregated fund. Segregated funds are similar to mutual funds but offer different features and guarantees. To learn about these features, check out the Investment Advantage. To learn more about the Special Situations segregated fund, click here.
For more information about Equitable Life’s segregated funds, speak to your Regional Investment Sales Manager or visit our segregated funds page on EquiNet®.
References:
Fidelity’s press release announcing the limited fund closure
Fidelity® Special Situations portfolio management strategy, webinar featuring Mark Schmehl, Portfolio Manager.
*No Load, Deferred Sales Charge, Pivotal Solutions II
® or ™ denotes a trademark of The Equitable Life Insurance Company of Canada, except as noted below.
Fidelity and Fidelity Investments are registered trademarks of 483A Bay Street Holdings LP. Used with permission. -
Life insurance check-ins matter
Life can change
As an advisor, you know clients' lives—and their insurance needs—can change over time. Checking in with clients doesn’t have to be complicated. Even a quick insurance mention during regular financial discussions, like upcoming RRSP reviews, could reveal gaps and make sure their coverage still matches their situation.
Did you know?
• Over 50% of Canadian life insurance clients haven’t reviewed their coverage in the last two years.1
• Clients who have annual reviews with their advisor report greater satisfaction with both their policy and the service they receive.2
If you haven’t spoken with some of your clients lately, scheduling a quick life insurance review can help them feel more supported. It can also help strengthen your client relationships and help you grow your business.
1 LIMRA Canadian Life Insurance Consumer Study, 2024.
2 LIMRA Insurance Engagement Report, 2025.
- [pdf] Investment Direction Form - DIA/GIA
- Sales Strategies
-
Insights from a pandemic: Drug trends during COVID-19
We were expecting drug costs to rise this year due to the increase in “specialty” drugs, the shift to more expensive treatments for common conditions, and the introduction of new, costly medications. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused drug costs to rise even more than expected. While this was partly due to increased claims for certain drug categories, the most significant factor was the increase in dispensing fees as the provinces imposed 30-day refill limits.
Costs and claimants surge, drop, then climb again
Initially, as COVID-19 started to spread, we saw an overall spike in the volume and paid amounts for drug claims in March as plan members rushed to stock up on their medications. On our block, the average amount paid per certificate increased 16% in March, compared with the previous year.
This spike was followed by a drop in April after most provinces put 30-day refill limits in place. This led to a decrease in both average paid amounts and quantity per claim as people were limited to smaller refills. But the dispensing fee portion of drug cost tripled for many plan members who had to refill their prescriptions every month instead of every 90 days.
The April plunge was short-lived. Drug claims started to climb again in May as some provinces removed their 30-day refill limits. We’ve seen a continued increase so far in June as all remaining provinces have lifted their 30-day limits.
Claims for “specialty” drugs increase
There were some notable exceptions to this trend. For example, both claimants and paid amounts for high-cost “specialty” drugs increased in March, April and May. Thirty-day refills are the norm for these drugs, so they weren’t impacted by the re-fill limits.Claims for asthma drugs had the largest surge of any common disease category in March but had no subsequent drop in April. Not surprisingly, claims for mental health drugs increased throughout the pandemic, including a 33% increase in the number of claimants in May.
Going forward, we should see the average quantity per prescription stabilize in future months and return to normal, provided pharmacies return most patients to refills of more than 30 days.
The full impact of COVID-19 remains to be determined. We will continue to provide timely updates on any developments that impact our clients and their plan members or their benefits coverage. In the meantime, please contact your Group Account Executive or myFlex Sales Manager if you have questions.