Ontario Doctors Selling Health Insurance

The private insurance dam has sprung another small leak with a new insurance product covering “medical administration costs”, Canada Free Press reported.

The website writes about a family doctor selling his own private insurance product.

The article recalls that Ontarians can purchase insurance to cover their doctor’s notes stating that they are too ill to attend work because they are waiting on a list to get treatment.

The doctor selling his own insurance product lists 23 administrative services for which he charges fees. These range from $11.72 for telephone prescription to $150 for the filling out of forms for a physical required for a driver’s license.

You can read the whole article here.

Cost of Care in Ontario and the need for Long-Term Care Insurance

Long-term care insurance is used to help the insured cover the cost of care when they are no longer able to care for themselves and become functionally dependent. The cost of care can be significant. We've put together a table with typical home services and their costs in Ontario. In our latest insurance tips article you can also read Lorne's comments on costs of long-term care.

LSM’s four day work week still attracts media attention

Newspapers and community websites continue to report on our initiative of introducing four day work weeks to combat skyrocketing gas prices.

Following our appearance on the front page of the Globe and Mail, the Business News Network also ran the story on our four day work week.

For full details, you can read our press release complete with images and a video footage on our four day work week.

Manulife Financial’s Combined Coverage

Manulife term products have a value-added option known as combined coverage.

Combined coverage offers two death benefits under a single policy, resulting in one policy fee and a 3% discount – terrific savings. In fact, Manulife combined life coverage often costs less than its competitors’ joint first-to-die plans.

If one of the insureds dies under a joint first-to-die policy, the surviving insured would have to apply for new coverage. At his or her attained age, this would translate into a higher premium. Under a combined plan, however, the surviving spouse automatically continues the coverage according to his or her original age at the time of last renewal.

The one caveat: the life face amounts for both insureds must be identical under a combined coverage plan.

Below is a cost comparison for Manulife combined coverage versus some of its competitors’ joint first-to-die plans. Assume $500,000 each of term-10 coverage for a 45-year-old male non-smoker and a 42-year-old female non-smoker (rates as of July 21, 2008).

• Manulife combined coverage: $86.43 a month

• RBC Insurance joint first-to-die coverage: $81.00 a month

• Industrial Alliance joint first-to-die coverage: $88.20 a month

• Desjardins joint first-to die coverage: $89.55 month

4 Day Work Week on front page of Markham Economist

An exciting day. I woke up to see our 4 day work week on the front page of the city newspaper, The Markham Economist and Sun, with my picture.

It looks like my cover as a normal Markham family guy has been blown. Next thing you know I'll be stopped for impromptu insurance sessions in the local grocer's produce section.

The Markham Economist & Sun got the focus of the 4 day work week absolutely right: the tremendous benefits to employees:

Mr. Marr believes a shorter work week reduces fuel costs, increases family time and improves employee morale.

"In some way, they work more during the four days, since they're being more productive," Mr. Marr said. "Our company is based on salary and bonus pay, so they can actually make more money off the bonus pay by being more focused and working harder."

Mr. Marr came up with the idea because of skyrocketing gas prices.

"The employees choose which day they'd like off, which is usually Friday," Mr. Marr said. "As long as they get their work done, it doesn't matter to me which day they take off.

"I think more companies, sooner or later, will start doing this," he said. "The bigger companies, like IBM, can't do it as easily since they can't really think outside the box. They have more channels to go through, more people to consult with to make a decision like this."

LSM Insurance on front page of The Globe

Canada's national newspaper, Globe and Mail brings a lengthy report on how companies are combating soaring gas prices. The paper interviewed our Senior Insurance Consultant, Jack Bendahan on his view of our decision to move to a four day work week.

Here's an excerpt from the article:

Life insurance broker Jack Bendahan, for example, has switched to a four-day work week and now parks his Mitsubishi Eclipse convertible at home on Fridays — saving roughly $250 a month on gas.

"There's a lot of driving in this business. I'm all over the place," said Mr. Bendahan, who also co-ordinates his appointments and plans his routes more carefully now to avoid excessive mileage. He has eased up on the gas pedal, as well.

His company, LSM Insurance of Markham, Ont., had given employees the option of compressing their work into a four-day schedule a year ago, "but I only got on board on that three months ago."

Mr. Bendahan is trying to sell his car, which takes premium gas, and is thinking about purchasing a more fuel-efficient Toyota Yaris.

Read the whole Globe and Mail article on our four day work week in PDF format.

Our four-day work week campaign to reduce commuting gas costs gains media exposure

Canadian media reacted promptly when they learned about the condensed four-day work week we instituted to reduce the cost of commuting.

Our business co-ordinator Elisabeth Prosper was interviewed on CBC radio last week (listen to the CBC radio report), the four day work week story was featured in depth on CBCNews.ca.

LSM Insurance four-day work weeks featured on CBC Radio

CBC Radio has featured our 4 day work week as a great example of how to combat high fuel costs and save money.

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Listen to the whole story!

People in Toronto work long hours and long days. In the face of ever higher gas prices and unstable financial markets, many people are working more days and even longer hours.

Here at LSM Insurance, we have moved to four-day work weeks to combat high gas prices. All the team members welcomed the initiative, saving hundreds of dollars a month in gas costs. CBC Radio has aired our story and we also let the major Canadian newspapers know about our endeavour.

LSM Insurance featured on CBC National News!

   

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We have been featured for our efforts to help employees reduce commuting, save on fuel costs, reduce pollution and enjoy life more: we have instituted a voluntary 4 day work week. And our staff love it.

CBC radio also produced a story about our four day work week in July. Listen in by pressing the play button below.

Beware of promises of high returns

Be wary about viaticals, the Toronto Star suggests. In a recent article they write about a Toronto company promoting investments with unusually high returns and tax-free advantages. "Company websites suggest one type of investment would pay an 8 per cent annual dividend, plus an average capital growth of 15 to 20 per cent. Another would pay a higher annual return, as well as a tax-free component of 10.2 per cent. The minimum investment is $10,000," the paper reports.

The investments offered by the New Life Capital Corp. are to life insurance policies of elderly Americans, who sign over their death benefits in return for discounted cash settlements.

Canadians should know the viatical or life settlements industry in the United States has been dogged by controversy, corporate failures, criminality and investor losses. So it is worth reading the entire article, to be found here.