Extended Health Benefits

Brian is undergoing treatment for a rare type of cancer. The drugs that can help him are not covered under his provincial medical plan. If Brian wasn’t covered by his employer’s extended medical benefits, his prescription costs would average $xxxx per month, an amount that Brian couldn’t otherwise afford without putting his family in debt.

What do extended health benefits typically cover?

Extended medical benefits generally cover all, or a portion, of the cost of services not funded by your provincial healthcare plan:

• Prescriptions
• Paramedicals
  • Physiotherapy
  • Massage Therapy
  • Acupuncture
  • Psychology
  • Massage Therapy
  • Acupuncture
  • Psychology
  • Podiatry
  • Chiropractic Services
  • Chiropathy
  • Osteopathy
  • Naturopathy
  • Osteopathy
  • Speech Pathology
• Vision care (glasses, vision tests)
• Hospital services
• Medical equipment and supplies
• Air ambulance

How can an extended health plan benefit your company?

In a small or medium-size business, when employees are absent or unable to produce at their usual rate, it can impact your company’s production and increase the workload on the rest of your team. And in any size business, employees who are stressed, in pain, or unwell, impact the work environment around them.

Extended health benefits allow you to take care of these concerns, and to offer a tax-effective incentive that attracts and retains workers. Instead of paying for uninsured health expenses with after-tax income, your employees are covered by their before-tax income – leaving more money in their pockets. It’s a way of compensating your people without incurring more payroll taxes – and your portion of the premium payments are a deductible business expense.

Dental Care

One of the things that attracted Jill to the company she joined is the dental coverage – for her, it was the deciding factor between two jobs that offered similar salaries. Now, she only has to worry about the results of the dental checkup, and not the bills!

What do dental care plans typically cover?

Dental plans are usually offered at various levels of care: basic, major and orthodontic. Basic services cover a wide range of dental care for employees and their families, including:

• Examinations and cleaning
• X-rays
• Fillings
• Extractions
• Root canals

Major procedures might include: dentures, crowns and bridges. Orthodontic care covers a portion of the cost of orthodontic services, such as retainers and braces.

How can a dental plan benefit your company?

Dental care is a fundamental form of medical care that people without insurance will often neglect – until they can’t. Untreated dental issues can impact an employee’s health as much an illness.

Dental benefits offer a tax-effective incentive that attracts and retains workers. Instead of paying for uninsured dental expenses with after-tax income, your employees are covered by their before-tax income – leaving more money in their pockets. It’s a way of compensating your people without incurring more payroll taxes – and your portion of the premium payments are a deductible business expense.

Disability Insurance

Mike, the owner of a small outdoor adventure company, had a serious fall while rock climbing and was unable to work for almost a year. With no money coming in and extra money going out for rehabilitation, Mike could have been in trouble. But when he started his company, Mike enrolled in a disability plan that would replace most of his income if he couldn’t work. Mike was able to focus on his recovery instead of his finances, until he returned to work.

What does disability insurance typically cover?

Short-term disability benefits replace a percentage of your employee’s income for a period of weeks or months if they are unable to work due to an injury or illness unrelated to work.

If they are unable to return to work when short-term disability coverage ends, long-term benefits come into effect for a set number of years, or until the employee reaches retirement age.  Long-term disability supplements disability benefits available from government programs.

Optional short and long-term disability plans offer coverage for the spouses of employees, so that their entire family is looked after. Employees pay for this type of plan through monthly premiums that are deducted from their paycheques.

How can disability insurance benefit your company?

When you calculate the odds of an accident, serious illness, or mental health issue happening to you or one of your employees, disability insurance makes sense.

A provincial healthcare plan can help pay the medical bills, but to replace lost income, you need disability insurance. It provides financial stability so that your employee can get immediate help, and then focus on their recovery. It means that they may be able to return to work sooner and in better condition.

Disability insurance also allows your team to support their co-worker emotionally, without worrying about how they are surviving financially. When employees feel that they and their co-workers are looked after, it inspires loyalty and a positive morale, which can show in tangible ways such as reduced turnover and absenteeism.

Critical Illness Insurance

When Chantel received a lump sum payment from her critical illness insurance plan, her partner was able to take a leave of absence from work while Chantel went through chemotherapy. The payment also gave them the money to explore alternative medical treatments and pay off a large student debt. Critical illness insurance allowed Chantel to opt for full support during her recovery, with no financial worries.

What does critical illness insurance typically cover?

Critical illness insurance gives your employee a lump sum payment if they contract one of the life-changing illnesses that is covered by their policy, such as cancer, heart disease or stroke. It’s intended to complement other types of medical insurance and they can choose how the money is spent, for example: to fund treatments not covered by provincial health care plans, to bring in extra household help, or to reduce debt.

Optional critical illness insurance offers coverage to the spouses of employees, so that their entire family is looked after. Employees pay for this type of plan through monthly premiums that are deducted from their paycheques.

How can critical illness insurance benefit your company?

Critical illness insurance complements disability insurance, which replaces a portion of your employee’s lost income. It gives your employee the extra money they may need to pursue additional treatment, get help at home, and ensure their loved ones can be with them.

Critical illness insurance provides for all of the necessary extras, so that your team doesn’t need to worry about how their co-worker is surviving financially. When employees feel that they and their co-workers are looked after, it inspires loyalty and a positive morale, which can show in tangible ways such as reduced turnover and absenteeism.

Life Insurance

When Janet was killed in a car accident, her young family was shattered. Janet’s husband, Al, needed to be there for their two young children, while continuing to pay the bills. Fortunately, Al and Janet had opted to insure her through his workplace’s life insurance and accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) plan. Because Janet’s death was an accident, Al received a lump sum of money from both plans that allowed him to take a leave of absence from work, pay for funeral costs, and arrange for high-quality care for their kids when he was ready to return to work.

What does life insurance typically cover?  

Life insurance plans pay a non-taxable sum of money to your employee’s designated beneficiary in the event of their death, whatever the cause. The payment is usually based on a multiple of the employee’s salary, or a set amount.

Optional life insurance programs allow your employees to “top up” the coverage that their core plan provides, usually to a set amount. They pay for the plan via monthly premiums that are deducted from their paycheques.

Dependent life insurance provides a lump sum in the event of their spouse’s or child’s death.

How can life insurance benefit your company?

As an employer, when you offer life insurance plans, with optional buy-ins for spouses and dependent children, you’re sending the message you that you care about your employees and their families, and that you’ll help them prepare for the worst.

And if the worst should happen, a plan allows you and the rest of your team to focus on supporting your team member or their family emotionally, without worrying about how they are surviving financially.

Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance (AD&D)

When Dave lost a couple of his toes in a hiking accident, his AD&D coverage helped to pay for the expensive orthotics he’ll need for the rest of his life. Dave can continue to pursue his passion for the great outdoors, with a few adjustments.

What does AD&D insurance typically cover?

AD&D insurance pays a set sum of money to your employee’s beneficiary if they die in an accident, or to the employee, themselves, if an accident results in paralysis, the loss of a limb, sight, speech or hearing.

Optional AD&D insurance offers coverage for their spouses, so that their entire family is looked after. Employees pay for this type of plan through monthly premiums that are deducted from their paycheques.

How can AD&D insurance benefit your company?

AD&D insurance sends the message you that you care about your employees and their families, and that you’ll help them prepare for the worst. It means that your employee can take the time, and access the resources they need, to recover from grief, or adjust to life with a disability – without worrying about finances.  How well your employee recovers, affects not only their productivity, but the productivity of the people who work with them.

Travel Insurance

When Sue fractured her leg in several places on a business trip to Arizona, the surgery and hospital bills totalled more than $150,000. Fortunately for Sue and the small consulting firm she works for, travel insurance covered the costs. The travel insurance company even helped her find appropriate medical care while she was in Arizona, and covered the cost of an early plane ticket home.

What does travel insurance typically cover?

Travel insurance protects you and your team from unexpected, emergency medical costs due to an illness or accident when you travel out of province or out-of-country. It covers expenses such as treatment by a doctor, hospital stays, diagnostic tests and prescriptions. It can cover travel expenses for a family member so that they can be with you in hospital. And it can help with non-medical expenses such as trip cancellation or interruption, vehicle return and lost baggage.

How can travel insurance benefit your company?

Travel insurance plans cover you and your employees when you are travelling out-of-province or out-of country, for business or pleasure. It’s one less thing for your team to worry about when you prepare for trips, and it protects your company from any medical bills that your employees might incur while they’re travelling on your behalf.

Your provincial health plan only covers a portion of healthcare expenses incurred outside Canada, and it limits the coverage you receive when you and your team travel to another province. An insurance plan helps your team member get the medical help they need, without impacting the finances of your company, your employee, or drawing on your immediate travel funds.

On a practical level, travel insurance also helps with non-medical expenses such as trip cancellation or interruption, and lost baggage, so that you can respond to sudden changes in your schedule, or replace your shoes when they are left, with your bag, on the tarmac.