Group Insurance is Not Just Health and Dental Insurance

Group Insurance doesn't just cover the dental and health needs of your employees. There are also many non-traditional products and features that can be included as part of a group plan. One such product is an Employee Assistance Program [EPA].

"That gives the employee the opportunity to meet one-on-one, privately, and with 100% confidentiality for problems that may not be covered under the group plan," says Joel Cadesky, a senior account executive specializing in group insurance.

The Wawanesa Group: Critical Illness Policy

The Wawanesa Life group plan is available to all groups with long-term disability. There is no coverage available for children and no coverage available for spouses.

• Coverage amount for employees ranges from $5,000 or $10,000.
• No coverage amounts for Spouses.
• No Coverage amounts for children or dependents.

There is no continuation or conversion option with this plan. The critical illness benefit is compulsory for all groups with long-term disability insurance.

Optional Critical Illness Enhanced is also available. Critical Illness Basic and Critical Illness Enhanced features are available without medical underwriting. Critical Illness Basic is also automatically included with all long-term disability policies.

For more details on group Critical Illness insurance in Canada, please contact us at 1-866-899-4849, or visit our Group Benefits Online Quote Page.

Desjardins Insurance Group Critical Illness Insurance Policies

Desjardins Insurance's Group Critical Illness insurance policies can cover three very different lives:

Coverage amounts for employees can go up to $500,000.

Coverage amounts for spouses can also reach a maximum of $500,000.

Coverage amounts for children and other dependents have a slightly smaller maximum of $25,000.

You can rest assured that there is a conversion option should the insured employee leave the company.

Participation can be mandatory or optional depending on the plan. The policy comes with basic coverage of four illnesses or extended coverage of up to 31 illnesses for adults with a 100-percent payment guarantee. There is also a cancer recurrence clause and other multiple occurrence coverage for non-related illnesses.

For more details on group Critical Illness insurance in Canada, please contact us at 1-866-899-4849 or visit our Group Benefits Online Quote Page.

Group Critical Illness Insurance

Critical illness insurance was first developed by Dr. Marius Barnard in 1983 to offset the financial burden associated with developing a critical illness. Medical advances have created an increased need for critical illness insurance; more individuals are surviving life altering illnesses, such as cancer, stroke or heart attack. But these advances in modern medicine have come at a cost – the increased survival rate has strained the Canadian health care system. This, coupled with the fact that many people are naturally seeking extra services and non-traditional forms of treatment, has led to a dramatic rise in cost of care and thus increasing the need for additional coverage.

As mentioned above, cost of care in many instances can be prohibitive and exceeds what is available in traditional group claims. That’s where critical illness insurance comes in – it pays out a lump sum tax free payment upon diagnosis of a critical illness. The money can be used to pay off remaining debt, cover experimental drugs, provide daily living assistance or depending on the size of the policy seek treatment out of country.

Understanding the need for critical illness is relatively easy, obtaining the coverage can be much more difficult. Individual applications for critical illness coverage are much more closely scrutinized than life insurance applications. The insurance company closely examines the insured’s health history and their family health history. Many individuals may not qualify for coverage based on their age or their medical history may preclude or restrict coverage. By contrast group critical illness coverage is guaranteed and can provided at a discounted premium – in many instances the savings can be 30 per cent below that of an individual policy.

As a bonus, some group critical illness plans offer portable coverage. This feature alone is one of the highlights of these policy types. It allows employees who leave their employers to continue their coverage – and retain their group discounted premium.

The amount of coverage an individual may qualify for depends on the insurance carrier and the size of the group. From an employers standpoint this can be a major lever in attracting and retaining key employees. Critical illness coverage bridges the gap found in most traditional employee benefit plans. An example may be a senior executive whose family health history may have precluded him from individual critical illness coverage and his group disability plan only covers a fraction of his income. A group critical illness plan may provide the leverage needed to lure him from another firm or to keep him with his present employer.

A key advantage to the employee is the potential portability of the coverage. An employee retiring at 60 would be faced extortionate premiums on an individual critical illness policy and the coverage may not even be available due to health issues. However, if the same employee was enrolled in a group critical illness plan the coverage may be portable and the rates would be based on the employee’s age at the time of enrollment.

Apply now for Critical Illness Insurance