Canada Life experiencing health and dental claims processing delay Employee Benefit Plans
Canada Life is currently experiencing a delay in claims processing. Plan members will notice that their health, dental, and health spending account claims may not be processed as fast as usual. 3sHealth is working with Canada Life to address the delay. Canada Life is processing claims in the order they are received.
Athletic Therapist Services Now Eligible Under Physiotherapy Coverage Employee Benefit Plans
Effective January 1, 2024, the Employee Benefit Plans Board of Trustees approved adding coverage for athletic therapists to plan members’ existing $400 per year per insured person physiotherapy coverage maximum under the Extended Health Care and Dental Plan.
Hearing Aid Increase Effective September 1, 2023
Effective September 1, 2023, the Employee Benefit Plans Board of Trustees approved an increase to the hearing aid coverage under the Extended Health Care Plan. The hearing aid coverage will increase from a maximum of $1,500 every 5 consecutive calendar years to $1,500 per ear every 5 consecutive calendar years.
Core Dental Plan Contribution Rate Increase Effective April 1, 2023
Following their annual review with the plan actuary, the Employee Benefit Plans Board of Trustees approved an increase to the core dental contribution rate from $68.75 per full-time equivalent (FTE) to $70.75 per FTE effective April 1, 2023.
The core dental rate increase is required to cover the actual costs of the core dental plan and to reestablish a reserve amount equal to 6 months of claims plus expenses.
Claims Processing in January 2023 - Employee Benefit Plans
Each January, 3sHealth Employee Benefits performs an eligibility measure for all other-than-full-time employees. This year’s measure will determine if an employee is eligible for coverage effective January 1, 2023 based on the hours they worked from January 1 to December 31, 2022. An employee must work a minimum of 780 hours in the complete calendar year to be eligible for benefits. The annual measure will run on Tuesday, January 10, 2023 and the eligibility results will be available Wednesday, January 11, 2023. For the employers who subscribe to 3sHealth payroll, a benefits bulletin will be sent to you to advise when the results are ready for your review. For those employers who do not subscribe to 3sHealth payroll, 3sHealth will start sending the eligibility results to you on Wednesday, January 11, 2023.
Disability Income Plan
Changes to the Disability Income Plan Lump Sum Payouts [Nov 15, 2022]- Changes to the Disability Income Plans Nurse Practitioner [Nov 15, 2022]
How health and dental plan enhancements happen
Have you ever wondered how enhancements to the Extended Health Care and Enhanced Dental Plans happen?
Most often it starts with a suggestion or request from one of our plan members. 3sHealth Employee Benefits will work with the benefit plans consultant as well as with our insuring partner, Canada Life, to research the potential enhancement that the plan member suggested.
3sHealth Employee Benefits takes this information to the Working Committee, made up solely of union representatives from CUPE, HSAS, SEIU-West, SGEU, and SUN. The committee’s role is to oversee the in-scope Extended Health Care and Enhanced Dental Plan. If the committee agrees with the request and believes it would be both valuable for plan members and sustainable by the plan, the committee will make a recommendation to the Employee Benefit Plans Board of Trustees.
CUPE members in the health sector have the opportunity to be members of one of four pension plans.
- Saskatchewan Healthcare Employees Pension Plan (SHEPP): defined benefit pension plan – www.shepp.ca
- Local Authorities Pension Plan (LAPP): defined benefit pension plan registered in Alberta – www.lapp.ca
- The Regina Civic Employees' Superannuation and Benefit Plan (RCPP): defined benefit pension plan – www.reginapensions.ca
- Public Employees Pension Plan (PEPP): defined contribution plan – www.peba.gov.sk.ca
What is the difference between a defined benefit pension plan and a defined contribution plan?
Defined Benefit Plan
- The benefits are “defined”, or guaranteed, for as long as the retiree lives. There is a “pension promise” – retirees can predict what their income will be for the rest of their lives.
- If there isn’t enough money in the fund, the employer (and sometimes employee) contributions increase.
- This is a collective approach, with working employees paying into the fund so that retiree benefits can flow out of it.
Defined Contribution Plan
- Defined contribution plans are also called money purchase plans.
- This is an individual approach – each employee has an individual savings account.
- Everyone’s “account” is a different size, depending on their salary, how long they’ve been in the plan, and the performance of their investments.
- On their retirement day, they are given the amount of money that is in their account (that might be bigger or smaller on that day, depending on market returns).
Health Benefit Plan
CUPE health sector members have an opportunity to be members of the following benefit plans:
- Core Dental Plan
- Extended Health and Dental Plan
- Disability Income Plan
- Life Insurance Plan
Contributions for the core dental, extended health and dental, and life insurance plans are paid in full by the employer on behalf of members. Contributions for the disability income plan are shared equally between employees and employers.
These plans are administered by Shared Service Saskatchewan (3sHealth).
www.3shealth.ca/our-work/employee-benefits-program
New Out-of-Country Travel Assistance Provider through Canada Life