FAQs

Yes! In years where your claims experience performs better than anticipated, you are eligible to receive a profit-sharing cheque. We also reward the longevity of our customers through our loyalty dividend.

Absolutely! We have the flexibility to match and customize any structure! We will also complete an in-depth analysis of your benefits plan to determine where improvements and beneficial tweaks can be made to serve you better.

Of course! 3G is a proprietary product owned managed and operated by a trusted benefits brokerage with over 36 years of experience, so if 3G isn’t the right fit we have a wide range of solutions to fit your needs.

Like most group plans, 3G clients are able to submit and view recent claims on the go with a mobile app that gives you access to your plan member portal right at your fingertips.

With the rising cost of medical expenses, health insurance is notably a very important part of a well-rounded compensation package and many employees prioritize companies who offer benefits. According to a 2016 Health Canada survey, 77% of respondents said that they wouldn’t change jobs if the compensation didn’t include health benefits. 

You’ve come to the right place. The Chambers Plan is perfectly suited for budget-conscious small businesses just like yours. Because the Chambers Plan operates as a not-for-profit program, all surpluses stay in the plan. Which in turn helps to keep premiums low.

Absolutely! The my-benefits portal offers quick and easy online claims submission for employees, and a boasts 48-hour turnaround time for processing of those claims. 

Just as there is a my-benefits portal for employees, the same exists for employers. The online administration portal allows for quick and easy calculations of payroll deductions, employee enrollments, plan management and more!

Yes – companies who are looking to go ASO need to be comfortable with ebbs and flows in monthly costs as it pertains to health and dental claims. Claim amounts can fluctuate from month to month so a business that wants to explore implementing an ASO plan should have a comfortable level of cash flow.

No. This is a common misconception in the industry, however, an ASO plan doesn’t carry any more risk than traditionally funded programs. With an ASO program, you will still have a plan design in place that has limitations surrounding what can be claimed and how much – the only difference is that the company is paying the claims directly rather than the insurance carrier reimbursing the claims from premiums paid. Furthermore, companies who choose to go ASO are well established and have had benefits in place for some time. This provides a healthy history of claims experience to look back on which can help to guide an expectation for ongoing costs.

One of the benefits of an ASO model is that your fees and taxes are paid based on the actual claims paid, whereas with traditionally funded plans you pay taxes and fees based on your premiums paid, and the fee percentage is typically lower with ASO than with traditionally funded programs.

An ASO plan also has incredible flexibility when it comes to creating a plan that truly meets the needs of your business and your employees.

In an ASO plan, the employer can enjoy the advantages and savings in a few ways. The first of which is a favourable claims experience. From the perspective of a traditionally funded program, when the claims experience is better than anticipated, those savings are profit for the insurance company. In an ASO model, a favourable claims experience is realized in cost savings for the company. 

Additionally, because the administrative fees of an ASO plan come at a lower cost than a traditionally funded model, the company will experience cost savings in this area as well.

The main difference between these two benefits is the availability of what can be submitted as a claim. For a health spending account, only CRA-approved medical expenses can be submitted. 

Conversely, eligible claims to a wellness spending account are geared more towards items that promote a healthy lifestyle like gym memberships and professional development classes.

A health spending account provides employees with the option to choose what to claim. For example, if the monetary amount for a benefit like vision coverage was moved from the traditional benefits plan and into an HSA, it would provide an employee who doesn’t wear glasses with the opportunity to put that money towards something that has significance to them.

Yes! Health and wellness plans can be offered as a standalone benefit or they can be combined with a traditional benefits plan to provide a comprehensive solution for your employees.

A health spending account can help to manage costs through what is called an allocation of benefits.

Using vision care as an example, a common benefits plan will have $150-400 every 24 months to cover vision costs that extend beyond eye exams. If you’re already paying for vision coverage within your benefits, the cost per claim ends up being around 30% on top of the claim itself depending on your firm’s target loss ratio.

By transferring vision coverage to your HSA, you're not only managing costs but providing more value and flexibility for your employees. Vision coverage is just one example to replace with an HSA.

At a high level, a GRSP contribution (either from an employee or an employer) works similarly to an RRSP contribution, as all contributions count towards the total contribution limit outlined in the employee's most recent Notice of Assessment. 

Contributions happen through automatic payroll deduction and the employer can choose to match the employee’s contribution via an employer match. Typical amounts for an employer match are 3%.

While they both contribute to an employee’s retirement savings, a DPSP is limited to employer contributions only.

Additionally, when an employer contributes to a GRSP account, CRA views the contribution as additional pay. Both the employee and employer have to pay their share towards EI & CPP. In a DPSP, neither the employee nor the employer will have to pay additional payroll expenses for contributions to the account. 

Notably, while the source of contribution is different, both GRSP and DPSP contributions impact the contribution room. Employees can reference their most current Notice of Assessment to learn more about what their contribution limit is.

A deferred profit sharing plan provides employers with more control on when the money can be withdrawn and what happens to the contributions if an employee is to leave your organization. This is known as a vesting period. For example, you may wish to opt for a two-year vesting period, which means that an employee would need to be with your organization for two years before being able to access the funds. If they were to leave your company before the two-year time period, the money would be returned to the employer.

This helps to encourage employee retention while simultaneously protecting the employers’ investment.

Because an association plan functions like a group benefits program, many of your association members would be unable to attain that level of coverage on their own. For self-employed individuals or those with a very small employee base, they may solely rely on health and dental coverage offered through an individual plan or face very limited options available to them as a small group. 

Like traditional group programs, association members are eligible to receive the coverages like prescription drugs, massage therapy, routine dental care, medical equipment and more. We can work with you to put together a customized plan design that best supports the needs of your diverse association members.

HCP is proudly open to all Canadian hospital employees who are working in a part-time, casual, temporary or contract role. Retirees or those losing hospital benefits at age 65 are also welcomed to participate in the HCP program. 

Yes! We proudly offer 4 levels of guaranteed coverage with no medical question asked. Two of our HCP plans are guaranteed any time, regardless of employment at an endorsing hospital. For those hospitals that actively endorse our product, employees are eligible to receive two additional levels of guaranteed coverage.

HCP and Corsana both offer a program of true group benefits, however, what makes them unique is the voluntary aspect. Because of their voluntary nature, employees are able to determine whether or not they want to participate in the program with no impact on the organization.

No! All monthly premiums are the responsibility of the plan member (the employee). In addition to premiums being the responsibility of the employee, we provide all of the enrollment and marketing material that you need to communicate the opportunity to your employees. Furthermore, we handle all of the administration which includes processing enrollments and collection of monthly premiums.