For Canadian employee benefits advisors: My attention as a business owner was caught when someone commented on my podcast, left us a google review, engaged with me on social media, saw me in my personal life in community work, and invited me to

Captives: what are they, and why does it matter in employee benefits?

May 8th, 2024 21m 17s

If you're an employee benefits advisor, it's important that you're aware of what captive insurance companies are, why they matter, and how it might intersect with your daily work. If you're a plan sponsor, it's good to know that you have an opt

Green Shield Canada strike part 2

Apr 18th, 2024 6m 9s

The GSC strike is now over, the call centre will be open again Monday April 22, 2024 for group benefits and group insurance phone calls from plan members. We're anticipating a higher than normal call centre volume on Monday.

Green Shield Canada staff on strike: part 1

Apr 17th, 2024 10m 30s

Some Unifor divisions went on strike March 1 2024 especially those staff who answer the call centre phones for group benefits insurance questions. Let's see what happens over the next few days.

Budget 2024: How insurance advisors are affected

Apr 17th, 2024 10m 56s

The Canadian budget presented in Parliament yesterday doesn't affect group benefits plans, but does affect independent insurance or financial advisors if and when they want to sell or transition their business, by way of a capital gain.

How to connect an HRIS to an employee benefits insurer in Canada

Mar 18th, 2024 24m 38s

It's become more popular than ever for employee benefits clients to request that their payroll provider or human resources information system (HRIS) "connects" directly to their insurance carrier. This is doable and possible, but there is a lot

Why"waiver of premium" is important in life and disability insurance

Mar 14th, 2024 15m 43s

It's critical to make sure you look out for opportunities to waive the premiums on pooled benefits where applicable. Here are 3 examines in the Canadian group benefits market.

Which of these topics do you want to dive into?

Mar 13th, 2024 2m 39s

Let me know what you want to hear about next: how to sell your brokerage? How to sell & prospect? How to manufacture your own products? How to get out of tough legal situations? How to come back to work after having a baby? Let me know at yafa@

Pharmacare: I'll believe it when I see it

Mar 6th, 2024 22m 35s

We have been told as Canadians to expect some form of universal national pharmacare since 2018. This new announcement by the NDP is vague, uninspiring, and unclear. Therefore, I'm not motivated to change what we're doing as employee benefits ad

Manulife and Loblaws walk back their preferred pharmacy employee benefits deal

Feb 8th, 2024 27m 36s

Let's get into the backlash that Manulife and Loblaws grocery experienced when they tried last week to roll out a preferred pharmacy network for 260 specialty drugs. This is a common employee benefits group health insurance tactic used to save

Negotiating PAYG vs PEPM add-ons

Jan 16th, 2024 9m 22s

Employee benefits plans sometimes come with optional add-ons, like employee assistance programs (EAPs). These can cost around $5 per person, per month (PEPM). Large group benefits purchasers usually find better success negotiating this on a pay

Taxable benefits in Canada for group benefits products

Jan 16th, 2024 20m 31s

Employee benefits in Canada can be taxable - or not - depending on which specific product, depending on who is paying the premium, and under what circumstances. It's best to read the CRA canada.ca revenue Canada taxable benefits employers guide

Travel insurance declines and how to handle them

Nov 24th, 2023 18m 5s

The holidays are coming and it's a popular time for travel out of the province or country. Educate clients about the pre-existing condition clauses in emergency medical travel insurance, remind people not to give their credit card to a hospital

Having hard conversations

Nov 23rd, 2023 11m 54s

The employee benefits industry probably has conflict every single day of the year. Here's a conversation pattern that I use to start a conversation with an opposing party. How to diffuse, de-escalate and move forward together to solve problems.

Be careful messing with the dental fee guide

Nov 13th, 2023 7m 52s

If you're looking to save money on dental premiums, make sure that if you decide to cover a previous year's fee guide, you tell the carrier to code it in a "this year minus 1" or minus 2, etc, not the specific year. That year will get stale and

How I use Drug Advocacy to crush benefits costs in Ontario

Nov 9th, 2023 26m

At Beneplan, we hired a Drug Advocate to help small businesses leverage government and pharma cost sharing for high cost medication, in order to significantly reduce group health insurance premiums. Employee benefits brokers will learn the land

PLAs: the best kept secret in employee benefits

Sep 28th, 2023 13m 17s

Canadian health insurance can be complicated， but nothing confuses or scares people quite like explaining what a price level agreement is: the ubiquitous PLA. Also known as a drug rebate, volume discount or even -gasp- kickback - this highly co

How to deal with rising dental inflation

Sep 18th, 2023 17m 45s

The sharp rise in the dental fee guide in Canada means that we're seeing higher increases across group benefits dental premiums in 2023 and 2024. Here is a list of ways you can help your clients trim costs without cutting the benefit entirely.

Contractors should never get benefits

Sep 14th, 2023 15m 34s

I know it's tempting, but extending extended health and dental benefits or group insurance to Canadian independent contractors may cause the business to fail the employee test with the CRA and therefore owe back taxes, penalties and interest. H

Terminations: how to deal with the stress + prevention

Sep 6th, 2023 18m 42s

Everyone is the group benefits industry has been terminated. This episode shares some tough termination stories, discusses how you protect your own mental health, stop the fight or flight response, and how they can be prevented. Hosted by Benep

You don't actually need an MGA...or anyone

Sep 5th, 2023 7m 52s

If you're a Canadian employee benefits broker trying to grow your block of business, here's your sign that you don't need to wait for the perfect MGA or super intermediary to get started. You just need to be willing to read the fine print.

Disability: should employers cut people off benefits?

Aug 14th, 2023 32m 7s

Should employees be cut off of benefits while they're on workers compensation? Should they be fired? What can a benefits consultant or broker recommend to an employer during this time?

The New Canada Dental Benefit

Aug 3rd, 2023 14m 21s

Explaining how the new Canada Dental Benefit works and what it means for employee benefit plans.

CRA notice 326 - HST on insurance intermediaries

Aug 3rd, 2023 10m 23s

The Canada Revenue Agency just released a notice #325 on when and how insurance intermediaries need to charge GST or HST on their commissions and fees, and when it is exempt. We also talk about what you can do when a large insurer or government

If your client has 20+ lives, use the EI premium reduction program

May 3rd, 2023 20m

Here's why I adore Canada's Employment Insurance premium reduction program and why every group benefits plan should take advantage of it. yafa@beneplan.ca