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The Benefit Specialists Corp. is more than willing to answer any questions you or anyone you know may have had. If you know
someone who has questions regarding the insurance industry or anyone
who wants to join our mailing list please contact me, or forward this
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Just a reminder....
As
independent brokers we have the ability to go to any insurance company
to get insurance quotes. If you are looking at your group benefit plan
(or know of another company who is) and are wondering if you are using
your dollars in the most efficient way possible please contact us and
we will be happy to discuss this with you.
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TBSC Tidbit Group Benefits for Contractors
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| Do you have a large number of contractors working for your company and you are wondering if there are group benefit options for them?
Are there contractors covered under your plan that shouldn't be? The Benefit Specialists can help. At TBSC we provide two
options: 1. Contract employees may purchase a plan for
individual Health and Dental through a variety of carriers who offer several
options for this type of coverage. All
we need is the birthdates of all members to be covered under the policy to run
quotes, and then we will provide the application and other requirements to move
forward. 2. If a company has a class comprised of
contractors alone, and these contractors work 100% of their time for your
company, we can provide them all benefits, not just Health and Dental. We would require an employee listing with
names, dates of birth and other pertinent information. With this data, we can approach carriers and
request quotes. How can TBSC provide these benefits? In our efforts to serve the wide variety of needs our
clients have, we have aligned ourselves with several carriers who offer a
variety of options for employers like you.
Whether your company requires just Health and Dental, Life and Long Term
Disability benefits, or the whole gamut, TBSC will send out quotes and get the
best possible option. As each carrier has
different requirements and definitions as to what constitutes a contract
employee, we require that the aforementioned information be submitted so we can
ensure smooth implementation.
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Need to See a Specialist Now? Not Likely!
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by Jim Viccars President Acure Health Corp. The Canadian Healthcare System is like a hospital gown, you only think
you're covered!
-
Comedian
Francis Stewart
Most Canadians have very little
understanding of how the Canadian healthcare system works. This is a shame as
this is the one government program that affects us all. Politicians,
bureaucrats and the healthcare unions find it very useful to keep the delivery
of services a mystery and employ much practiced rhetoric to confuse issues,
defer accountability and block common sense reforms. For most people, entry to the
system is through their GP or Family Physician. The average appointment lasts
less than 6 minutes as most primary care Physicians see between 50 and 60
patients per day in order to make ends meet. Primary care physicians have very
little leeway to diagnose serious illness or injury and are limited to blood
work, x-rays, ultrasounds and similar general procedures. Actual diagnosis is left to the Specialist
who has much greater flexibility in ordering tests, i.e. MRI and CT Scans,
scheduling surgery or doing continuous follow-up and/or treatment with
patients. Unfortunately, access to
Specialists is restricted by the system in order to control costs. Canadians
wait months, and sometimes years, to see the proper Specialist. During this
wait, patients experience pain, anxiety and deterioration of health and
wellbeing. In some cases, undiagnosed illnesses grow to life-threatening
proportions. After all, early diagnosis is the key to effective treatment. In 2007, Alberta Health ran a
pilot project in Red Deer where patients were seen by a Specialist within 21
days of referral by their primary care Physician. The study concluded that
seeing a Specialist within this time frame may reduce the intensity of
treatment and recovery time by as much as 75%. Despite this significant
conclusion, the study was shelved as too expensive to implement province wide. Is there an option? One company, Acure Health of Calgary, has
introduced a group insurance program called Diagnostic and Specialist Access
Insurance (DSAI) to provide clients with access to Specialists within 21 days
in 10 important categories: Cardiology, Ear, Nose and Throat, Gastroenterology,
General Surgery, Neurology, Ophthalmology, Rheumatology, Spine Team or
Physiatrist and Urology. MRI and CT
scans are also included. Imagine seeing a Specialist on your time frame and
receiving a complete diagnosis in as little as 21 days, all paid for by your
insurance company. With cancer effecting 4 of every
10 Canadians and heart disease being the number one cause of death for both men
and women, an early diagnosis is the best way to combat serious illness. You cannot afford to wait! DSAI is available to employers with 2 or more
employees and associations which offer benefits to members. For more information, visit
www.fasthealth.ca. |
Is the Long
Term Care Benefit Something I Should Consider?
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| by Jennifer Creighton, BA The Benefit Specialists Corp.
In a 2007 Statistics Canada General
Social Survey, it was discovered that most eldercare (75%) was provided by
those between 45-64 years of age.[i] This spectrum includes caregivers with young
families at home and those who are already reaching their elder years. Furthermore, 70% of these caregivers were
family members.[ii] From these statistics we can see that taking
care of aging relatives is still primarily a family matter, and because of
this, our decision to consider a Long Term Care benefit plan needs to
incorporate this reality. What is the Long Term Care Benefit
Plan? Coverage could include entrance into
a long term care facility or receiving medical care in your home. This can include nursing care, rehabilitation
and therapy, personal care covering the daily activities of life, homemaking
services and supervision. Essentially,
the Long Term Care benefit is there to ensure that you have more choices about
the kind and amount of care you receive, and where you receive it, should you
require it. Patty Randall, in her May 2010
article in the Calgary Herald makes
an interesting point: "The experts tell us that we should
own a long-term care policy for the same reason we buy life insurance, because
we love our family, and without it, our family could be seriously affected, in
some cases devastated. We are going to be taken care of one way or another, but
it is our loved ones' lives that will be changed dramatically without some
planning on our part--it's all about consequences. It is often said that 'LTCI
doesn't replace a family's love, it complements it'." [iii] For more information about the Long
Term Care benefit, or to request a quote, please contact TBSC.
[i]
Kelly Cranswick and Donna Dosman, "Eldercare: What we Know Today." Canadian
Social Trends Winter 2008. http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/collection_2008/statcan/11-008-X/11-008-x2008002-eng.pdf. p.50 [ii] Ibid, p.51 [iii]
Patty Randall, "An Opinion on Long Term Care Insurance." Calgary Herald. May 6, 2010.
http://www.calgaryherald.com/health/opinion+long+term+care+insurance/2992612/story.html.
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Sean Murray The Benefit Specialists Corp. sean.murray@beneco.ca (403) 547-5236
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The information contained in
this bulletin is for general information purposes only. The articles published
in this bulletin have been collected by The Benefit Specialists Corp. (TBSC) and
we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about
the completeness, accuracy, reliability or availability with respect to the
information, products, services, or related graphics contained. Any reliance you place on such information is
therefore strictly at your own risk. In no event will we be liable
for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential
loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or
profits out of, or in connection with, the use of the information contained in
this bulletin. Through this bulletin you are
able to link to other websites which are not under the control of TBSC. We have no control over the nature, content
and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not
necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them. |
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