I would like to do a shout out to the group insurance companies for stepping up and offering some relief. Here are some highlighted offerings that we are seeing from the Group Benefit Companies. Be sure to reach out to your carriers to see what the options are for you:
- Allowing for suspension of dental temporality
- Deferring renewals and therefore deferring the possibly of a premium increase
- Allowing for the minimum hour of worked hours. Most companies are 20 hours to allow for group benefits. This number of hours is temporality reduced
- Giving an automatic premium reduction of 62% for Dental and 7% for health care (Victor) and 50% Dental and 10% health care from Manulife
Some items to note for your group benefit plan as well
- If you are feeling anxious or stressed about COVID 19, almost all Group Benefit plans offer Employee Assistance Programs. This is toll free number to support for counselling and someone to talk to 1-800-985-5990.
- Virtual Practitioners – this is quickly becoming a thing. If you still require physio or speech therapy etc and is completed through virtual appointment, the claim can still be made.