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  1. Enhanced flexibility and features make Equimax whole life a great choice for your clients

    WHAT’S NEW ON MARCH 23, 2020?

     
    The following features are available on Equimax Estate Builder® and Equimax Wealth Accumulator® plans!   

    Image-1-EDO-Prelaunch-Whatsnew-(1).jpg60 months of EDO payment flexibility1 that fits your clients’ situation

    • Clients can start EDO payments1 up to 60 months from the date the application was signed, or resume up to 60 months from the last EDO payment made, without additional evidence of insurability.
    • Applies to Equimax2 policies with an effective date of March 23, 2020 or later. 



    Image-2-EDO-Prelaunch-Whatsnew.jpg
    EDO is available on cases rated 300% or less3 for new and existing clients
    • For existing clients, if approved, the EDO contract provisions that apply will be based on the effective date of the insurance policy, not the date the EDO was added.
    • Applies to Equimax2 policies issued under the 2017 tax rules.



    Image-3-EDO-Prelaunch-Whatsnew.jpgBuilt-in Disability Benefit Disbursement provides access to cash value in the event of a disability
    • The Disability Benefit Disbursement may provide a tax-free, lump sum payment of up to 100% of the policy’s cash value if the insured becomes disabled.4
    • Will be included on Equimax2 policies issued under the 2017 tax rules.5



     

    Want more information?

    More information is available on EquiNet® on the Whole Life Insurance Product page under the Resources tab. 

    Ask your Equitable Life® Regional Sales Manager about Equimax today.

    COVID-19 & social distancing: Strategy for insurance applications
     

    Using our EZcomplete® online application allows you to keep your distance … while keeping your business moving forward.
     
    Learn more

     


    1 This applies only to policies with an effective date of March 23, 2020 or later. The amount of the EDO payment allowed may be limited to the maximum EDO payment made in previous years depending on the policy year. For approved EDO amounts exceeding $150,000 annually ($12,500 monthly), clients have up to 12 months from the date the EDO application was signed or the date of the last EDO payment to make an EDO payment before a contribution cap may apply. See Admin Guide for full details.  2 Applies to Equimax Estate Builder and Wealth Accumulator; all ages; life pay and 20 pay; single and joint lives. 3 Not available if the policy has a flat extra rating. 4 See sample policy contract for full details, including the qualifications for the disbursement. Policy cash value and death benefit will decrease. Tax laws are subject to change. The payment of the disability benefit disbursement may affect the adjusted cost basis (ACB) of the policy as it is considered payment of a capital benefit. Changes in ACB can affect the future taxation of the policy.  5Subject to our administrative rules and guidelines in effect at the time of the disbursement

  2. Equitable Life Coronavirus Update – March 13, 2020

    As the coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to spread, it’s important that you, your clients and their plan members have the most up-to-date information. We are providing timely updates on any developments that impact your clients and their plan members or their benefits coverage.

    Please share this information with your clients. You can direct them to EquitableHealth.ca, where we have posted a version of these updates.

    Coronavirus travel coverage*

    For groups with Travel Assist coverage

    The Public Health Agency of Canada has issued several Travel Health Notices advising Canadians to avoid travel to countries and regions where there have been outbreaks of coronavirus (COVID-19).

    A good resource to help your clients and their plan members understand how the spread of the coronavirus may impact their travel plans is the Public Health Agency of Canada’s Coronavirus Travel Advice site. The levels of risk by country and region are regularly updated.

    If your clients’ plan members cannot avoid travelling, Public Health recommends they take steps to prevent illness and seek medical attention if they become sick.

    Where to find the latest information

    The list and level of travel advisories can change at any time. Please check the Government of Canada’s Travel Advisor and Advisory page for the most current information.

    If your clients’ plan members have coronavirus symptoms while travelling, please advise them to contact Travel Assist at the numbers listed below for assistance.

    Advise plan members to call before they travel

    If a plan member is travelling anywhere outside of the province or country and their benefits plan includes Travel Assist, plan administrators should advise them to make sure they’re prepared for a medical emergency by following these steps.

    1. Check the Government of Canada’s Travel Advisor and Advisory page. Note that it is important to click on the country to check whether any specific regions of that country have travel advisories.
    2. If they have questions, they should call Travel Assist before they travel for assistance and benefit information.
    3. Pack their Equitable Life benefits card and provincial health card.
    4. In a medical emergency, call the Travel Assist 24-Hour Hotline:
    • Toll-free Canada/USA: 1.800.321/9998
    • Global call collect: 519.742.3287
    • Allianz Global Assistance ID #9089

    Allianz Global Assistance administers Equitable Life’s Travel Assist benefits. Allianz has an international network of medical facilities, transportation providers, medical correspondents and multilingual administrative agents who aid with medical, legal and most travel-related emergencies 24-hours a day, seven days a week.

    Early prescription refills and drug shortages*

    In response to concerns about COVID-19 TELUS Health, our pharmacy benefits manager, has announced it is maintaining its standard rules for refills of medication. Plan members can refill their medications when at least two-thirds of the last dispensed supply has been used.

    If plan members need more than the maximum supply allowed on their plan, they must pay out-of-pocket for the excess amount. They can then submit a claim to ask for an exception request.

    TELUS is taking this position to help maintain access to medication for all patients. They continue to monitor the situation. We will provide an update if it changes.

    Drug shortages

    TELUS Health monitors for drug shortages and updates their system for any unavailable drugs. This helps to ensure accurate claims payment. If a referenced lowest-cost generic drug is unavailable, claims for drugs in the class will be paid at the next lowest-cost generic alternative available.

    *Indicates content that will be shared with your clients

  3. 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.

  4. Important notice: Funds with Deferred Sales Charges The Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators (CCIR) is requiring all insurance companies to discontinue the sale of segregated funds with deferred sales charges (DSC) effective June 1, 2023. This also impacts ongoing or new deposits to some existing segregated fund accounts. Please contact any Equitable Life clients who may be impacted.
     
    How this impacts clients:
    In response to the insurance regulator’s recommendation, Equitable Life® will be making changes to the administration of certain segregated fund products, which may impact clients. The details are outlined below:
     
    Pivotal Select™ segregated fund product
    On or about May 29, 2023:
    • Funds with DSC or Low Load (LL) sales charge options will be closed to additional deposits. Future deposits must be allocated to the No Load (NL) sales charge option of the funds available within the policy.
    • Any existing amounts held in DSC or LL funds are not impacted and will retain the existing deferred sales charge schedule outlined in a client’s contract. The annual 10% available (20% for RIF policies) for withdrawal without fees continues to apply through to the expiry of the fee schedule.
    • If the default deposit instructions that a client previously provided include funds with DSC or LL sales charge options, these instructions will be automatically updated to the NL sales charge option of the same fund for all future deposits.
    • If a client has pre-authorized scheduled deposits into funds with the DSC or LL sales charge options, these instructions will be automatically updated to the NL sales charge option of the same funds for all future deposits.
    • In alignment with our current administrative rules, if a client has DSC or LL funds, they will not be able to make deposits into No Load Chargeback funds (NLCB and NLCB5) within the same policy.
     
    Legacy segregated fund products
    Ongoing deposits to DSC funds are permitted when a segregated fund product does not have an alternative sales charge option available within the contract. This applies to the following products:
    • Personal Investment Portfolio
    • Pivotal Solutions II
    • Pivotal Solutions DSC
    As a result, clients who own these types of products may continue to make new deposits to the DSC funds within their policy. Any new segregated fund deposits, as well as any existing segregated fund amounts within their policy will retain the deferred sales charge schedule outlined in their contract.

    If a client plans on making additional deposits, they may be interested in alternative sales charge options that do not include DSC. For example, Equitable Life offers “No Load” (NL) and “No Load Chargeback” (NLCB and NLCB5) sales charge options within the Pivotal Select segregated fund contract. In these situations, a new application would need to be completed and submitted.

    Please note that draft regulation in Quebec is currently under review which may impact Equitable Life’s approach for Quebec clients with legacy segregated fund products.

    Equitable Life will continue to monitor provincial regulatory developments and adjust our approach as needed.
     
    Client communication
    We will be sending clients a letter within their December 31, 2022, statement describing their options, and the impacts to their policy (if applicable). We recommend that you contact clients to discuss the contents of Equitable Life’s letter and provide any advice that they may need regarding ongoing deposits to their segregated funds. You can access a copy of the client letter here:

     If you have any questions, please reach out to our Advisor Services Team at 1.866.884.7427.

    December 23, 2022

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

  5. May 2023 eNews

    Update: Introducing changes to our Diabetes Management Program

    Beginning June 1, 2023, we are introducing additional standard drug plan controls as part of our Diabetes Management Program.
     
    The controls will apply to GLP-1 agonists approved by Health Canada for the treatment of diabetes, such as: Adlyxine, Mounjaro, Ozempic, Rybelsus, Trulicity, and Victoza. 
     
    This change will help manage the impact of these high-cost diabetes medications for your clients while continuing to provide plan members with access to effective treatments to manage their disease.
     

    Why are we introducing this change?

    GLP-1 agonists are the highest cost diabetes drugs on the market. Current Diabetes Canada Clinical Practice Guidelines recommend that most Type 2 diabetics begin treatment with lower-cost and equally effective first-line therapies, such as Metformin.
     
    Some GLP-1 agonists are also used “off-label”. In other words, they are often prescribed for conditions for which they have not been approved by Health Canada, such as weight loss.
     
    These additional controls will help ensure that these drugs are used appropriately – only for the treatment of diabetes and only after other first-line treatments have been tried.
     
    If a client wishes to provide coverage for drugs specifically approved by Health Canada for weight loss, we have coverage options available.    
     

    How will this program work?

    Plan members who receive a new prescription for a GLP-1 agonist will need to try a first-line diabetic treatment before they are eligible for coverage of the GLP-1 agonist. If the plan member has previously tried first-line therapies and found them ineffective, they will be eligible for a GLP-1 agonist.
     
    Plan members who are already taking a GLP-1 agonist to treat diabetes will continue to be eligible for coverage. Some claimants may need to provide confirmation of their diabetes diagnosis from their physician or pharmacist in order to maintain coverage. We will provide claimants ample time to confirm their diagnosis.
     

    Questions?

    If you have any questions about these additional standard controls or how they will impact your clients, please contact your Group Account Executive or myFlex Sales Manager.
     

    Coming soon: Survey for plan administrators with recent disability claims

    We are regularly enhancing our communication processes to help your clients with disability plans manage their workplace absences more effectively. Later this month, we will distribute a short survey to plan administrators who have submitted a disability claim in the past six months. The survey will ask recipients about their satisfaction with the frequency and detail of our disability management communications.

    The email will come from GBClientFeedback@equitable.ca, and the survey will remain open until the end of the day on May 19, 2023. All responses will be confidential. Survey respondents will receive the option to provide their contact information so that we can follow up on feedback they have provided.

    We plan to use the feedback to help ensure that we’re meeting your clients’ expectations and delivering industry-leading service.

    In a previous issue of eNews, we published a list of the average dental fee increases for general practitioners based on the latest Provincial and Territorial Dental Association fee guides.

    Since then, the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (CLHIA) has updated the 2023 dental fees for some provinces. Provinces with dental fee updates since our previous eNews are bolded and italicized. Equitable Life uses these guides to help determine the reimbursement limits for dental procedures. For your reference, below is the list of the average dental fee increases for general practitioners that will be used by Equitable Life for 2023.
     
  6. Policy Title Changes
  7. Convertibility - The Power of Term
  8. Life Policy Collateral Loans
  9. Our service standards - Individual insurance