What's new for bargaining unit benefits
Last updated on February 1, 2024What’s new for 2024
Changes to the Bargaining Unit Benefits Program for plan year 2024 include:
- Employee Basic Life Insurance Plan: The monthly premium for Employee Basic Life Insurance is decreasing from 12 cents to 9 cents per $1,000 of insurance
- Optional Family Funeral Benefit: The annual cost for coverage under the Family Funeral Benefit is decreasing from $27.96 to $25.92 annually
Annual enrolment: optional life insurance for bargaining unit employees
It’s time for the bargaining unit optional life insurance annual enrolment period.
From February 5 to February 26, 2024, you can make changes to your optional insurance benefits. This enrolment period occurs every February and is an opportunity to update your optional insurance coverage outside of requesting changes after an eligible life event.
During the annual enrolment period, you can update your coverage in the following plans:
- Optional Family Funeral Benefit
- Optional Life Insurance for employee, spouse, and dependent children
- Optional Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance for employee, spouse, and dependent children
Coverage not requiring evidence of insurability will be effective April 1, 2024. You will be required to provide evidence of insurability for any increases to employee optional or spouse optional life insurance and coverage will be effective once approved by Canada Life.
If you do not make any changes during the annual enrolment period, your optional life insurance coverage will remain the same.
What do you need to do?
- Explore your coverage options in the 2024 Benefits at a Glance (PDF, 160KB) and in the Life insurance plans sections on the Benefits for bargaining unit employees page on Careers & MyHR
- Review your current coverage on Employee Self Service by selecting Benefits Summary. You can:
- Access Employee Self Service from work
- Access Employee Self Service from home
- Update your coverage on Employee Self Service by selecting Benefits Summary > Optional Life Insurance
- Once you complete the form, save and submit. You will receive an email with a service request number
- If you are applying for or increasing optional life insurance coverage for yourself or your spouse, in addition to submitting the application through Employee Self Service you will need to complete an Evidence of Insurability form (PDF, 518KB) and submit it directly to Canada Life. The amount of coverage requested on both the application and the evidence of insurability form must reflect the total amount of optional life insurance you are applying for.
Need more information?
If you have any further questions, please contact AskMyHR.
New member website for Canada Life
Canada Life launched their new member website called My Canada Life at Work™. Use this website to access information about your extended health and dental plan and/or Deferred Salary Leave Program (if applicable).
Effective April 19, 2023, when you go to mycanadalifeatwork.com to sign into your GroupNet for Plan Members or GRS Access (if you are in the Deferred Salary Leave Program), you will be asked to review and accept the website’s terms and conditions to switch to My Canada Life at Work™. This only takes a few minutes.
You will notice changes in the page navigation, but the information remains the same. If you are enrolled in the Deferred Salary Leave Program, My Canada Life at Work™ allows you to access your extended health and dental information and your Deferred Salary Leave Program information.
If you have downloaded GroupNet app to your mobile device, there are no changes to the app at this time. We will provide further communication in the future if this changes.
Resources
- Review moving over to My Canada Life at Work™ to learn how easy it is for members to switch to My Canada Life at Work
- Review register for My Canada Life at Work™ to learn how members who don’t have an online account yet can register
- Here are answers to some common questions your members may have
- If you have questions about the website, contact Canada Life’s technical support team at 1-888-222-0775, weekdays from 5 am to 5 pm PST
If you are a supervisor with employees covered under the Extended Health and Dental Plan or Deferred Salary Leave Program who are currently away on a short or long-term leave, please let them know about the new member website for Canada Life.
New claim notifications and digital explanation of benefits
Canada Life has made three updates on how you can receive information about your claims.
- New claim notifications
You’ll now be notified by text or email, instead of through the mail, when you get a prescription filled using your pay-direct drug card or when your health care provider submits a claim for you. These notifications will help you know when a claim has been made on your plan and serve as an additional layer of protection against potential fraud.
- Get your explanation of benefits online
You’ll now receive your explanation of benefits online through GroupNet for Plan Members when you get a prescription filled using your pay-direct drug card. This will replace the paper version you usually get in the mail and assist you with getting your information faster. If you haven’t signed up for electronic details through GroupNet for Plan Members, you'll continue to receive a paper copy.
- Find out how much you’ll be covered for dental work while you're at the dentist
When you require dental work, your dentist can submit a request for an estimate of coverage to Canada Life and receive a response back while you wait. You no longer need to wait to get a paper copy in the mail.
You can log in to GroupNet for Plan Members to view your full claims history and get more information about your coverage and balances.
You can also contact Canada Life at 1-855-644-0538.