In most businesses, employees are like family. If an employee gets sick its good to know there’s a plan in place to help recover. A major illness can have a large impact on an employee, not just in terms of their physical health but also their financial and mental wellbeing. Whomever said “business isn’t personal” didn’t run a business. Being responsible for a group of people and their livelihoods is as personal as it gets.
That’s why many Chambers Plan programs include critical illness coverage. If someone gets sick, employees and their families can focus on what’s really important; getting better. The benefit option will relieve some of the financial stress a critical illness can create. As an employer you will feel that you were able to help in some small way.
Insured protection remains an integral part of benefits plans today. Having a conversation with an advisor can help you determine which benefits work best with your budget and which areas you or your employees are at the highest risk. Some benefits make more sense based on an employee’s tax situation as well.
An employee could be critically ill but not disabled and able to go to work within a short period of time. An employee could also be disabled but not critically ill. There are many instances where one benefit makes sense over the other and some where dovetailing both coverages makes sense. Your Chambers Plan advisor can help you sort out which are in your best interests.
Many people, particularly younger employees, feel that it won’t happen to them. The reality is that more than a third of all working people will incur either a period of disability or experience a critical illness during their career. With statistics like that its truly amazing that not all employers offer both disability and critical illness coverage.
In addition, these benefits along with life insurance coverage do not typically impact your rates if an employee makes a claim. Most carriers, including the Chambers Plan pool these benefits amongst all similar claims from that insurer, providing renewability even if there is a large claim. Knowing there’s no risk should make these options worth more consideration.
The Chambers Plan has many other features that may also be useful during the time of such an illness of injury. Firms can also elect to add the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) to their benefit plan. This is a low-cost item that can greatly impact mental Wellness in the workplace. It provides any required counselling an employee or their family members may require. For a few dollars a month, employers can add this non-taxable benefit to their plan. Consider the impact to someone dealing with mental health issues. Even if it’s not the employee but rather a family member, that employee brings that stress to work everyday which does not result in a positive outcome. In addition, these resources can be accessed directly without employer involvement. This confidential treatment allows for resolution of issues without any impact or stigma in the workplace.
The Chambers Plan also provides the BAS, or Business Assistance Service to all plan holders at no extra cost. This is invaluable to small to medium sized enterprises providing HR, Accounting and Legal assistance as part of the underlying program. Additionally, all employees receive the Best Doctors program. This can allow an employee to find access to specialists or get a second opinion on either a diagnosis or course of treatment. If someone if facing a critical illness diagnosis this can be a huge benefit for them.
The Chambers Plan has all the traditional benefits available as well, including extended health benefits with paramedical options, vision coverage, industry leading out-of-country coverage, hospital, nursing care and prescription drugs. Dental coverage is also available with a variety of options for a variety of budgets.
The Chambers Plan is also a not-for-profit plan consisting of 35,000 firms making it Canada’s largest program of its kind. There is a pooling system used that helps organizations with budget certainty providing consistent, fair renewals. It’s competitively priced with less overhead as a not-for-profit, and offers a wide array of benefits and plan designs to meet every budget; it’s Canada’s top choice for coverage for firms with 1 to 100 employees. Visit the Chambers Plan at chamberplan.ca today.
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