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Equitable Life Group Benefits Bulletin – October 2020
In this issue:
- Group benefits enrolment just got a lot easier*
- Critical Illness added to myFlex Benefits® selection tool**
- ASO dental available down to 3 lives
- QDIPC updates terms and conditions for 2021*
*Indicates content that will be shared with your clients
**Indicates content that will be shared with myFlex Benefits groups onlyGroup benefits enrolment just got a lot easier*
Our Online Plan Member Enrolment tool now makes it simple to add new employees to the benefits plan.
Enrolling new plan members can be overwhelming – for both you, your clients and their employees. It’s challenging to ensure plan members complete the necessary paperwork before the enrolment deadline, and time consuming to manually load new members.
That’s why we’re updating our plan member enrolment experience. Beginning November 2nd, 2020, all Equitable Life groups will be able to easily enrol new employees in the benefits plan with our Online Plan Member Enrolment Tool.
Benefits of Online Plan Member Enrolment
Our Online Plan Member Enrolment tool offers a more secure and efficient option to traditional paper enrolment. Employees are able to enrol in their benefits plan in just minutes from their computer or mobile device.
The user-friendly interface was built with the plan member in mind. They can easily enter all their enrolment information, including dependent details, banking information for direct deposit of claim payments and details for coordination of benefits. They can even designate their beneficiary electronically.
The online enrolment tool also lessens the effort for plan administrators to onboard new hires. The tool reduces errors and rework that can occur due to spelling mistakes or missing information on paper forms. And the days of chasing plan members for their paper enrolment forms are gone. Once they enter a few employee details, our system will automatically send out an email to each plan member, inviting them to enrol in their benefits program. And there will be no need to send reminders or follow up with employees about their benefits enrolment. It’s all done automatically.
Online plan member enrolment is available to all traditional and myFlex Benefits plan administrators with update access beginning November 2nd, 2020. Plan administrators just choose “New” from the “Certificate” view in EquitableHealth.ca to get started.
This enhancement is for plan administrators who have update access on EquitableHealth.ca. If your clients are not sure if they have update access, they can contact their Equitable Life Client Relationship Specialist or myFlex Benefits Team for support.
Learn More
We’ve created Online Plan Member Enrolment User Guides to support your clients and their plan members with this new tool:
- Online Plan Member Enrolment 1-page flyer
- Plan Member Online Plan Member Enrolment Quick Reference Guide
- myFlex Plan Member Online Plan Member Enrolment Quick Reference Guide
We’re also offering a series of webinars to help your clients learn about Online Plan Member Enrolment. Plan administrators will receive an invitation with links to register for the time that best suits their schedule.
Help your clients spend less time administering group benefits. Contact your Group Account Executive or myFlex Sales Manager to learn more about our enhanced online plan member enrolment.
Critical Illness added to myFlex Benefits selection tool*
For many employers, mandatory Critical Illness (CI) coverage is an important part of their group benefits package. It provides proactive protection against life-altering illness, helping give plan members and their families a sense of security.
While CI is available on myFlex Benefits plans, it was not built into our benefits selection tool since there is no action required by the plan member.
Beginning November 2nd, 2020, we are adding a CI page to the myFlex Benefits selection tool that appears when this coverage is included as part of the plan. There are no options to choose – plan members simply review their CI coverage and carry on with the benefits selection process. It keeps the process smooth, while ensuring plan members fully appreciate their employer’s contributions.
Adding CI to the benefits selection tool also simplifies the budgeting process for employers. Now that CI is included in the selection tool, employers no longer need to break out the amount billed for CI from their contribution per employee when loading flex allocations.
To learn more about our myFlex Benefits selection tool or Critical Illness coverage for myFlex Benefits, contact your myFlex Sales Manager.
ASO dental available down to 3 lives
Beginning November 2nd, 2020, groups with as few as three full-time employees will be able to self-insure their Equitable Life dental benefits with an Administrative Services Only (ASO) funding arrangement.
Currently, dental benefits are only available on an ASO basis for groups with 20 lives or more.
In an ASO arrangement, Equitable Life administers the benefits plan but does not insure it. The plan sponsor pays for all eligible claims, as well as the expenses of administering the plan.
Why ASO?
Choosing an ASO funding arrangement allows plan sponsors to save on premiums. With a traditional insured funding arrangement, a portion of every premium dollar includes a charge for the risk that the insurer is assuming to cover the claims.
With an ASO arrangement, the plan sponsor assumes all risk, so they avoid the risk charge. And since dental claims are usually more predictable than other benefits, there is typically less risk involved in covering those claims.
For more information, contact your Group Account Executive or myFlex Sales Manager.
QDIPC updates terms and conditions for 2021*
Every year, the Quebec Drug Insurance Pooling Corporation (QDIPC) reviews the terms and conditions for the high-cost pooling system in the province. Based on its latest review, QDIPC is revising its pooling levels and fees for 2021 to reflect trends in the volume of claims submitted to the pool, particularly catastrophic claims.
Size of group (# of certificates) Threshold per certificate 2021 Annual factor (without dependents) Annual factor (with dependents) Fewer than 25 $8,000 $251.00 $691.00 25 - 49 $16,500 $165.00 $455.00 50 - 124 $32,500 $94.00 $258.00 125 - 249 $47,500 $68.00 $187.00 250 - 499 $72,000 $49.00 $135.00 500 - 999 $95,000 $40.00 $111.00 1,000 - 3,999 $120,000 $35.00 $95.00 4,000 - 5,999 $300,000 $16.00 $44.00 6,000 and over Free market - Groups not subject to Quebec Industry Pooling Free market - Groups not subject to Quebec Industry Pooling Free market - Groups not subject to Quebec Industry Pooling We will apply the new pooling levels and fees to future renewal calculations that involve Quebec plan members.
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Equitable Life of Canada ends 2020 in a position of financial strength
Equitable Life of Canada is pleased to report that our strategic approach continued to serve us well in 2020, despite operating in a global pandemic.
Equitable Life, one of Canada’s largest mutual life insurance companies, closed out 2020 with strong earnings and solid growth.
The Company reported earnings of $153 million, equating to a return on policyholders’ equity of 16%. This result was driven by strong sales, investment performance, positive impacts from favourable expense ratios and reserve assumption changes.
“There is no doubt the global pandemic has had, and continues to have, a profound impact on the lives of Canadians and created challenges for all of us in 2020 that we could never have envisioned,” said Ron Beettam, Equitable Life’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Thanks to the resiliency and commitment of our entire team, we effectively responded to unfavourable impacts caused by the pandemic, including market volatility, and continued to achieve a high growth rate on most key measures, ending 2020 in a position of financial strength.”
Equitable Life reported premiums and deposits of $1.7 billion in 2020, contributing to $6.0 billion of assets under administration. This growth was supported by very strong sales during the pandemic, as more Canadians turned to insurance to protect the financial security of their families. Dividends to participating policyholders increased by 24% over the prior year.
The Individual Insurance business reported 2020 sales of $149 million, reflecting the third consecutive year of double-digit sales growth. Savings & Retirement reported sales of $401 million, driven by sales of segregated funds. Group Benefits delivered sales of $46 million, despite competitive industry pricing strategies and the impact the pandemic had on businesses.
Equitable Life finished the year with an impressive LICAT ratio of 166%, well above the regulatory target and one of the highest in the industry. This capital result demonstrates that we are well-positioned to continue meeting our commitments to our policyholders. In addition, DBRS Limited (DBRS Morningstar) upgraded our Financial Strength rating to A (high) with Stable Trends in September.
“While we don’t yet know what future impacts the global pandemic could have on our business, we know we can face the future with confidence,” said Beettam. “I am very proud of all that we have accomplished together, especially throughout this unpredictable year, and I know the Company is very well positioned to meet the challenges ahead and will continue building on those achievements by focusing on organic and profitable growth across all lines of business, with a continued emphasis on meeting the needs of our policyholders and distribution partners.”
2020 Financial Highlights
- Net income of $153 million, for a return on policyholders' equity of 16%
- Capital strength, as measured by the LICAT ratio, ended the year at 166%
- Participating policyholders' equity surpassed $1 billion
- Premiums and deposits increased by 6.8% to $1.7 billion
- Sales of $149 million in Individual Insurance, $401 million in Savings and Retirement, and $46 million in Group Benefits
- Assets under administration grew 17.6% to $6 billion
- Benefits and payments to policyholders of $820 million
- Dividends to participating policyholders increased by 24% to $61 million
About Equitable Life of Canada
Canadians have turned to Equitable Life since 1920 to protect what matters most. We work with independent advisors across Canada to offer individual insurance, savings & retirement, and group benefits solutions to meet your needs.
Equitable Life is not your typical financial services company. We have the knowledge, experience and ability to find solutions that work for you. We’re friendly, caring and interested in helping. As a mutual company, we are not driven by shareholder pressures for quarterly results. This allows us to focus on management strategies that foster prudent long-term growth, continuity and stability. We are dedicated to meeting our commitments to customers – now and in the future.
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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
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.
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100 years strong
As COVID-19 continues, we want to reassure you that Equitable Life remains financially strong and committed to supporting our clients.
We are financially strong and stable
Our commitment to your health, wealth and overall well-being remains unchanged. This global pandemic has impacted the way we do business, but we continue to focus on our strategic goals while meeting the needs of Canadians. These three factors speak to our financial strength and stability:
• Equitable Life has a global credit rating of ‘A’ with a positive trend from DBRS Morningstar in recognition of our ability to adapt to the current business environment and prudent risk profile;
• We are maintaining our current dividend scale for the period July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021; and
• Our Life Insurance Capital Adequacy Test (LICAT) ratio remains well above our goal and the minimum that is required at 152.5% at the close of the first quarter.We pride ourselves on our customer service
Being recognized for its service culture across all lines of business is a point of pride for a company that includes ‘customer focus’ as one of its three corporate values. In 2019, our dedication to customer service was recognized with these outstanding survey results, proving we have the We have the knowledge, experience and ability to find solutions that work for you:- Equitable Life ranked in the top quartile for segregated fund service in 2019 survey of advisors and MGAs1 ;
- In a 2019 survey of customers from 15 life insurance companies,2 Equitable Life ranked #1 on the Net Promoter Score, a measure used across industries to gauge the loyalty of a firm's customer relationships; and
- A survey of Group consultants, brokers and third-party administrators 3 ranked Equitable Life in the top two insurers across all categories.
We have adjusted our business to become digital
Since the pandemic began, our IT and operations teams have digitally enhanced more than 20 different processes and services to make it easier for us to integrate with our distribution partners in this new reality. Our sales and customer service teams remain open and available to support you and your customers.
We are here with you and for you- To commemorate our 100th Anniversary this year, we donated $4.5 million to purchase and install a new MRI for Grand River Hospital and, as part of our Equitable Gives Back Contest, we donated $50,000 – $10,000 each – to five charities in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec. As well, we are celebrating by randomly selecting policyholders to receive a $100 and three grand prizes. For more information about our celebrations, check out our website at www.equitable100.ca.
As the global situation continues to evolve, rest assured that Equitable Life is unwavering in our commitments to you and the communities we serve. We are here with you and for you.
2 LIMRA CxP Customer Experience Benchmarking Program, Life Insurance In-Force Experience 2019
3 NMG Consulting’s Canadian Group Benefits Survey 2019
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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.
- 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.
- If they have questions, they should call Travel Assist before they travel for assistance and benefit information.
- Pack their Equitable Life benefits card and provincial health card.
- 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.
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