Whether to increase employee retention or to enhance your employees' quality of life, a group benefits plan makes sense. With a variety of suppliers at our fingertips, we can offer health and dental benefits to suit any work force, and ensure the price you pay remains competitive.

By offering a range of benefits, you ensure your employees maintain a good level of health and wellness. A basic group insurance plan includes life insurance, disability, health and dental care, but there are other options to suit a variety of needs:

Group Critical Illness - Provides a lump sum benefit (tax free) when an individual is diagnosed with an illness such as a heart attack, stroke, or cancer. The benefit can then be used for treatment within Canada and out-of-country, as well as for personal expenses. This product can be issued either on a group or guaranteed standard-issue basis.

Employee Assistance Plan - A counseling program designed to help identify and resolve personal concerns affecting one's health and well-being. It provides you with a confidential and professional direct treatment resource to deal with personal issues.

Best Doctors Services ® - A medical consultation service which connects individuals and their health care provider to the world's leading medical experts. It can assist with confirming the diagnosis of a covered condition, and can suggest the most effective treatment plan by drawing on a global database of 50,000 peer-ranked specialists.

Cost Plus - An arrangement for payment of legitimate expenses not covered by the group insurance benefits program. It provides flexibility to reimburse non-insured expenses for key plan members. Expenses must qualify as an eligible medical and dental expense under the income tax act.

Health Care Spending Account (HCSA) - An individual employee account with a specified dollar amount selected by the employer. Eligible health care expenses or other benefits not covered by the group insurance plan or the provincial health insurance plans can be reimbursed with this account.

Coverage for US Based Employees - Enables employers to provide their US based employees with a comprehensive benefit package. This includes benefits such as life insurance, disability, as well as health and dental care benefits. Cost-effective solutions are available to reduce employee out-of-pocket expenses.

Administrative Services Only (ASO) - Ever-growing pressures to increase profitability by insurance companies can result in higher expense ratios. These higher expenses are subsidized by the employer. Self-insuring allows your company to pay only the true and necessary costs of having a plan. It also allows your company and staff to pay a fixed administration fee year after year and only pay for your claims as they are incurred.

When you are part of a fully insured program, you could be paying an insurance company 25 to 30% over and above the cost of your claims; this amount is used to administer your benefits, review and pay claims, produce contracts and employee communication material, compensate a broker and fund claim reserves. Because you are paying to fully insure your program, your plan will incur some expenses whether your claims rise or fall.

Under an ASO arrangement, employers provide benefits to employees on a self-insured or uninsured basis. This means the employer assumes all risks associated with the plan while the insurance company administers the benefits and pays the claims. This type or arrangement ensures you are not subject to unsubstantiated rate increases — you pay for claims as they arise.

Stop Loss and Pooling Arrangements - Allows the employer to limit the amount of claims charged directly to the benefits plan. Once claims reach the pre-determined pooling limit, claims paid beyond that level will be fully insured.