Industry groups had mixed feelings about an expert panel’s report calling for a single-payer pharmacare plan. Released on Wednesday by Eric Hoskins, former Ontario health minister, the report recommended Canada and the provinces work together to create a unified program that addresses the country’s patchwork of prescription drug plans. Provinces and territories, the panel said, […]
The Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association is withdrawing guideline G19 on advisor compensation for group benefits and retirement services. “Following extensive discussions with market players, including advisors and their associations, and careful consideration of what we heard, we have decided to withdraw this industry guideline,” said Stephen Frank, CLHIA’s president and chief executive officer, in […]
In response to proposed amendments to a regulation under Ontario’s Health Insurance Act, the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association is suggesting employers providing group travel insurance may start paying more for these products. The proposed change, set for Oct. 1, 2019, will result in no provincial coverage for medical emergencies that occur out of the country. In […]
The Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association is to be commended on its proactivity in proposing a new guideline for compensation disclosure in group benefits and group retirement services. But while transparency is a key driver of client satisfaction, in other countries — like Australia and the U.K. — it has taken regulators to force the hand […]
Trends, benefits fraud and drug coverage led the top health and benefits stories in 2018. Benefits Canada rounds up the industry’s favourite health and benefits stories of the year: 1. Seven benefits trends to watch in 2018 2. Ontario unveils new drug, dental coverage for people without workplace benefits 3. TTC fraud update: More than 220 employees fired or have resigned, retired […]
As 2018 draws to a close, and the benefits and pension industry looks ahead, what’s next for the year’s biggest topics? Stephen Frank, president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association, is expecting a shift from Canadian and global regulators in the way they govern how customers are treated: an […]
While advisors are supportive of greater transparency in group benefits and retirement services, some say the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association’s proposed amendments to its compensation disclosure guideline last week still presents a conflict of interest. The suggested changes to G19 included requiring the disclosure of both the percentage and dollar value of direct compensation […]
After consulting with more than 500 advisors, the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association is making a number of changes to its G19 guideline pertaining to compensation disclosure in group benefits and group retirement services. The proposed guideline, which was introduced nearly a year ago, would require insurers to disclose to plan sponsors the compensation paid to intermediaries for […]
Two-thirds (67 per cent) of group insurance brokers said their client base would decrease if employer-paid benefits became taxable income, according to a survey by the Canadian Group Insurance Brokers and Digital Journal Group. In February 2017, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in Parliament his government wasn’t planning to tax employee health and dental plans. However, the […]
The Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association’s compensation disclosure guideline doesn’t adequately provide for transparency, according to a letter submitted by the Benefits Alliance Group Inc. “The quasi regulatory role assumed by such a powerful trade association is littered with serious conflicts of interest,” the letter read. It noted these’s an imbalance between the natural goals […]