Types of group life insurance benefits
Typical basic group term life plan designs
To minimize adverse selection, none allow individual selection of insured amounts
Group term life disability provisions
Most plans contain one of the following:
Formula for group term life imputed income
Employees taxed on value of employer-provided group term life insurance > 50k
Value determined from Table I (rates vary by age)
Monthly imputed income = [Table I rate * (covg amt - 50k) / 1k] - Ee contributions
Benefit provisions for group disability income
3 key dimensions for defining medical benefit plans
Services covered by medical policies
Reasons to have the insured share in cost of plan
Provider reimbursement arrangements
Common medical plan exclusions
Provisions included in medical plans
Typical definitions of disability for group disability income
Methods for reducing benefits for income earned during disability
Optional benefits that may be added to group disability contracts
For LTD:
1. COLA
2. Survivor benefit - lump sum payable to survivors upon death of insured
3. Expense reimbursement for day care expenses
4. Pension benefit - replace lost contributions to retirement plans
5. Conversion option - insureds who lose coverage can convert to either group or ind disability covg
6. Spousal benefits
7. Catastrophic benefits - additional amts for more serious injuries (i.e. total paralysis)
For STD:
1. 24-hour coverage - both on- and off-job
2. First day hosp coverage - elim period waived if confined to hospital
3. Survivor benefit
Criteria for provincial Medicare plans to qualify for federal contributions
From the Canada Health Act
1. Comprehensiveness - all medically-required hospital and physician services must be covered
2. Universality - all legal residents of province must be entitled to services on uniform terms and conditions
3. Accessibility - reasonable access by residents to hospital and physician services must not be impeded by charges made to residents
4. Portability - may not impose waiting period in excess of 3 months for new residents, and coverage must be maintained when resident moves or travels within Canada, or is temporarily out of the country
5. Public administration - must be administered on a non-profit basis by a public authority
(Extra-billing and user charges not prohibited, but will result in reductions in federal grants to province)
Benefits covered by most Canadian provincial Medicare plans
Concerns about the Canadian Medicare system, from recent reports
Categories of expenses commonly covered by private (supplemental) medical plans in Canada
Group dental insurance is provided to beneficiaries through
Organizations that sell dental insurance
Basic components of dental plan designs
Classes of dental benefits
Dental plan cost containment provisions
Underwriting and rating parameters for dental