Equitable Life of Canada is one of Canada’s leading and longest-standing providers of group insurance and employee benefits.
This review examines Equitable Life of Canada employee benefits offerings, including the plans, features, technology, service, and costs. The goal is to provide valuable insights for Canadian organizations considering Equitable Life of Canada for employee benefits needs.
Equitable Life Company Overview
Equitable Life (EQ Life) of Canada has over 100 years of experience providing insurance and financial services to Canadians. Founded in 1920 as The Ontario Equitable Life and Accident Insurance Company, it was one of the fastest-growing life insurance companies in its early years. 1936, the name changed to The Equitable Life Insurance Company of Canada.
Throughout its history, EQ Life has focused on providing security, well-being, and personalized service to its clients. As a mutual company, participating policyholders rather than shareholders own Equitable Life. This allows the company to focus on customer interests and stable long-term growth rather than quarterly results.
Today, Equitable Life provides a diverse range of products and services including:
- Life insurance
- Health insurance
- Employee benefits
- Savings and retirement
- Health care spending accounts
- Disability insurance
- Critical illness insurance
With assets under administration of $10 billion and over 900 employees, EQ Life is one of Canada’s largest mutual life insurance companies. It continues to be recognized as one of Canada’s top insurers and financial service providers.
Source : https://www.wealthprofessional.ca/company-profiles/equitable-life-of-canada/221419
Equitable Life of Canada Employee Benefits
Equitable Life of Canada provides one of Canada’s most comprehensive ranges of employee benefits through its group benefits division. The company has built a reputation for extensive flexibility and customization to design benefit plans tailored to each client’s specific needs. Key employee benefits offered by EQ include:
Equitable Life Group Life and Health Insurance
Equitable Life Group Life Insurance
EQ Life has designed innovative group life insurance plans to provide robust financial protection for employees and their beneficiaries. Coverage amounts can be customized based on a set formula, such as a multiple of earnings, a flat dollar amount, or a schedule matched to job levels.
The company offers industry-leading no-evidence maximums of up to $1 million, so coverage can be provided cost-effectively without health underwriting. It also includes value-added features like living benefits that allow terminally ill claimants early access to a portion of their life insurance.
In 2022, EQ Life paid over $973 million in group life insurance claims to Canadian families. This tax-free financial support helped protect them after the loss of a loved one.
Source: https://www.equitable.ca/en/who-we-are/news/equitable-life-announces-2022-financial-results/
Equitable Life Accidental Death and Dismemberment
Equitable Life’s comprehensive AD&D coverage provides additional financial protection in the unfortunate event of death or dismemberment due to an accident. Policyholders can customize their plans with value-added AD&D features such as:
- Family transportation benefits to visit hospitalized relatives
- Repatriation coverage for transporting remains
- Home/vehicle modifications for accessibility
- Spousal occupational training
- Child education benefits
On top of the basic AD&D coverage, these support benefits provide extra protection when needed most.
Equitable Life Group Critical Illness Insurance
Equitable Life partners with Chubb Life Insurance to offer innovative group critical illness insurance that provides a tax-free lump sum payment upon diagnosis of a covered critical illness. This can help offset treatment costs and the financial impacts that often accompany serious illnesses.
The covered conditions include heart attack, stroke, cancer, MS, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and more than 25 other critical diseases. Equitable Life paid over $5 million in critical illness claims in 2021 to provide crucial financial support to hundreds of Canadian families facing significant health challenges.
Equitable Life Group Health and Dental
Equitable Life Group Health Benefits
EQ Life offers extensive customization of health benefits in terms of coverage levels, deductibles, co-insurance levels, co-pays, maximums, eligible expenses and more. Health coverage can be designed to include:
- Prescription drugs with features like mandatory generics, maintenance medications, and pay-direct drug cards
- Medical services and equipment such as private duty nursing, ambulatory aids, and specialized treatments
- Paramedical practitioners like physiotherapists, chiropractors, massage therapists, psychologists
- Hospital, diagnostic and outpatient services, such as semi-private rooms and ambulance transportation
- Vision care, including eye exams, prescription lenses and LASIK coverage
- Travel coverage for out-of-province and international emergencies
Equitable Life Dental Benefits
Equitable Life’s flexible dental benefits platform allows employers to design plans with various reimbursement levels, deductibles, and annual maximums. Coverage can include:
- Diagnostics like exams, x-rays, tests
- Preventive care such as cleanings, fluoride, and sealants
- Essential restorative services like fillings and extractions
- Major restorations, including crowns, bridges, dentures
- Orthodontics for children and adults
- Dental accident coverage
- Access to preferred provider networks
Employers can optimize their investment in dental benefits by choosing services and cost-sharing structures to match their workforce.
Equitable Life Group Disability Insurance
EQ Life offers short-term disability (STD) and long-term disability (LTD) benefits to provide income replacement during periods of disability. The company’s disability management program provides access to specialized resources and support services aimed at helping plan members recover and return to work as early and safely as possible.
Equitable Life Group Health and Wellness Programs
EQ Life provides extensive health and wellness program options under its HealthConnector platform. Offerings that can be included based on each company’s needs include:
- Virtual healthcare with access to doctors and specialists via text and video
- Employee assistance programs providing confidential counselling and advisory services
- Expert second opinion services through world-leading medical institutions
- Digital mental health tools such as apps, assessments, and online CBT programs
- Health risk assessments identifying individual’s health risks and opportunities
- On-site flu clinics, seminars, challenges, and health resources
- Integration with wearables, wellness platforms, and corporate fitness programs
With programs tailored to address physical, mental and emotional health, EQ Life’s wellness solutions aim to engage employees, reduce absenteeism and healthcare costs, and boost productivity.
Other Innovative Benefits
- Taxable Spending Accounts: These accounts cover health and wellness expenses not reimbursed under other benefits and allow organizations to target specific wellness goals.
- Health Care Spending Accounts (HCSAs): These provide tax-free reimbursement of medical expenses under the Canada Revenue Agency’s approved list.
- Personal Spending Accounts: Reimburse employees for personal financial planning, professional development, electronics, and fitness expenses.
By leveraging EQ Life’s flexible benefits administration platform, companies can craft benefits plans that are aligned with their workforce’s unique needs and corporate wellness strategy.
Equitable Life Plan Options and Customization
One of EQ Life’s strengths in employee benefits is the variety of plan options and customization available. This allows companies to match their benefits offerings to their budget and workforce demographics.
For companies with 2-35 employees, EQ Life offers pre-set packages under its MyFlex program. Options range from Bronze, Silver, and Gold to Platinum packages with increasing levels of coverage. Employers select the plan design and coverage tiers, and employees can choose benefits within this framework.
For larger organizations, EQ Life offers complete custom plan design. Employers can select the optimal mix of benefits, coverage tiers, deductibles, co-insurance levels, and maximums while staying within their benefits budget.
Standard add-ons like employee-paid optional life insurance, long-term disability, and health spending accounts can augment the core offerings. Overall, EQ Life focuses on flexibility to create the ideal benefits package for each organization and employee group.
Equitable Life Administration and Technology
EQ Life Canada provides online administration and claims management technology to make benefits administration seamless for HR teams and employees.
Features include:
- Online plan member enrollment – The digital enrollment process sends emails and reminders to employees.
- Plan Member Web Services – Secure web portal for employees to check coverage, submit claims, and update information.
- EZClaim – Digital claims submission for faster processing and reimbursement.
- EquitableHealth.ca – Claims history and health/wellness education for plan members.
- Automated billing and analytics – Reports and data to track program performance.
These online and mobile administration systems reduce paperwork and manual processes for HR administrators. They also provide employees with an efficient self-serve experience for their benefits.
EQ Life’s technology offerings receive high marks from group benefits advisors and administrators for their user-friendliness, efficiency and automation.
Equitable Life Services and Support
As a mutual life insurer, EQ Life focuses on maintaining long-term relationships rather than quarterly results. The company prides itself on providing personalized, high-quality service and support.
For group benefits clients, EQ Life assigns a dedicated account representative who handles the relationship long-term and becomes familiar with the company’s needs. The representative is supported by experienced teams in areas like underwriting, administration, claims, reporting, disability management, etc.
For employees, Equitable Life provides bilingual call center support and an online member portal for coverage info and claims tracking. The company resolves 83% of member inquiries in one call, and call wait times average under 1 minute.
Equitable Life Costs and Pricing
As a mutual life insurer, EQ Life focuses on maintaining long-term stability rather than maximizing short-term profits. As a result, the company offers very competitive pricing on its group benefits plans.
Specific pricing depends on each group’s demographics, plan design, and claim history. EQ Life also offers cost containment features like health risk assessments, fraud detection, and drug management programs to help keep premiums sustainable long-term for clients. For detailed information, you can contact Equitable for illustration.
Why Choose Equitable Life of Canada for Employee Benefits?
Then why Equitable Life? Along with other big employee benefits providers has built a strong reputation over its 100+ year history for providing valued employee benefits with a focus on relationships and services. Key reasons organizations choose Equitable Life Canada for their group benefits plan include:
- Financial stability and risk management – Equitable Life maintains a long-term perspective and disciplined risk approach as a mutual company. The company has consistently maintained capital ratios well above industry norms.
- Flexibility in plan design – The ability to customize benefit combinations and coverage levels provides options for every budget and workforce makeup.
- Leading health and wellness programs – Comprehensive wellness offerings that can reduce claims costs and absenteeism while improving productivity.
- Top-rated administration and technology – Digital tools for enrollment, claims submission, and benefits information help provide efficient experiences for HR and employees.
- Skilled and responsive service – Dedicated teams with specialized expertise who provide high-touch service to both clients and plan members.
- Focus on relationships—Get to know clients over the long term to provide benefits solutions that work and evolve over time.
- Meeting evolving needs – Innovative new offerings like virtual healthcare and biometrics help address changing demands.
With a balanced approach between experience, innovation and service, Equitable Life of Canada stands out as a top provider of employee benefits solutions for Canadian organizations.
Summary and Conclusion
Finding the right employee benefits provider is an important decision for any business in Canada. With a range of options to choose from, it’s helpful to understand the landscape of top providers across the country. Some of the leading employee benefits providers in Canada include:
- Assumption Life Employee Benefits in Canada
- Medavie Blue Cross Employee Benefits
- Pacific Blue Cross Employee Benefits
- Saskatchewan Blue Cross Employee Benefits
- Desjardins Employee Benefits
Equitable Life of Canada has established itself as a leading provider of group insurance and employee benefits, leveraging its 100+ years of experience in the Canadian market. The company takes a highly consultative approach to understanding each client’s unique needs and objectives to design optimal benefits packages.
Key strengths of Equitable Life’s employee benefits offering include:
- A broad range of life, health, dental, disability and wellness benefits can be mixed and matched for each group.
- Extensive flexibility in plan design, including levels of coverage, deductibles, co-pays and premium cost-sharing.
- Robust service model with dedicated teams providing high-touch support.
- Digital tools and platforms enhance efficiency for administrators and user experience for employees.
- Competitive pricing is due to scale, efficiency, and mutual company structure.
- Focus on effective claims management through fraud detection, rehabilitation programs and return-to-work support.
Organizations looking for an employee benefits provider they can partner with in the long term should consider Equitable Life of Canada. Their balance of experience, flexibility, service and innovation makes them well-equipped to design, manage and optimize benefits plans that evolve for employers.
Key Takeaways:
- With over 100 years of experience, Equitable Life of Canada is a leading provider of group benefits and insurance for Canadian organizations.
- Offers extensive flexibility and customization in benefits plan design to meet each company’s budget and needs.
- Provides a wide range of life, health, dental, disability, and wellness benefits.
- Leverages digital tools and platforms for efficient benefits administration and self-service.
- Focuses on high-touch, personalized service and a consultative approach to benefits planning.