Our team members are available via phone (1- 800-361-6996) or email (info@hmabenefits.ca) Monday – Friday, from 8:30am – 4:30pm. We look forward to serving you!
Your HMA team is committed to working towards one common goal – a customer-focused and comprehensive approach to your employee benefits package and individual insurance needs. With over 36 years of experience, our dedicated and knowledgeable staff have successfully helped businesses, just like yours, navigated the ever-changing employment landscape.
As a full-service insurance brokerage, we proudly offer a comprehensive suite of products dedicated to supporting businesses and individuals alike. Whether you’re looking for life insurance, long term disability coverage, individual health and dental or even travel coverage, we can help!
Yes! We’re accustomed to working with groups of all sizes to created tailored benefit plans that serve their unique needs. In addition to working with all major industry carriers, we also offer 3 proprietary solutions to serve you better.
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3G
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.
CHAMBERS PLAN
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!
ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES ONLY
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.
HEALTH AND WELLNESS SPENDING ACCOUNTS
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.
GROUP RETIREMENT
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.
ASSOCIATION PLANS
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.
PART-TIME AND RETIREE EMPLOYEE BENEFITS
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.
LONG TERM DISABILITY
In our opinion, long term disability insurance is one of the most important insurances to invest in as it protects your fundamental need to earn an income. If you rely on your regular pay cheque to make ends meet, having income protection in place means that you can have peace of mind in knowing that your essential financial obligations are taken care of in the event that you can’t work due to injury or illness.
Determining whether or not the income on an LTD payment is taxable is determined by how the premiums were paid for in the first place. For example, we’re they paid with pre-tax or after-tax dollars. That determinant along with other considerations will establish whether the benefit itself is taxable. A member of our team would be happy to look at your unique situation to provide a more in-depth response.
The EI program offers a maximum coverage period of 15 weeks. Long term disability coverage is meant to kick in after your EI payments cease.
In our humble opinion, yes! WSIB coverage only pertains to an injury that happens in the workplace, and not while you’re on your own time. This leaves a substantial gap in your income protection strategy which can easily be mitigated through having an LTD policy in place.
CRITICAL ILLNESS
Critical illness insurance covers life-altering medical conditions like cancer, heart attack, stroke and more. For specific inquiries about what illnesses are covered, a member of our team would be happy to have a more in-depth conversation about your specific needs and concerns.
No! The money that you receive from your critical illness plan can be directed to any expense you wish. Whether it be covering treatment costs, replacing lost wages, paying for day-to-day living expenses, it’s up to you to determine where the funds can best support your path to getting well.
Absolutely! Like all forms of insurance, you will want to proactively have the coverage in place. While we hope you will never need to use it, investing in the coverage early means that you will always have peace of mind in knowing you’re protected from the costs associated with an unexpected, life-altering illness.
Traditionally the lump sum payment received through a critical illness policy is not taxable.
HEALTH AND DENTAL
Quite simply, anyone who is lacking coverage through a traditional group plan could benefit from an individual health and dental insurance plan. Some examples are those who are self-employed, work on a freelance basis or those who don’t receive benefits as part of their compensation package.
Everyday medical expenses like prescription drug coverage, massage, chiropractic care, counselling and vision care are just some of the expenses that you can claim through your individual health and dental plan.
Coverage amounts and maximums will vary from plan to plan. Not sure what plan is best suited to your needs? A member of our team can recommend your best plan options based on a brief discussion surrounding your medical expenses, lifestyle needs and overall budget.
In some cases, yes. However, there are guaranteed issue plans on the market that do not require medical evidence to be submitted at the time of application. With that being said, going through the medical underwriting process may be advantageous and help lower your monthly premiums so if you’re in good health, it is something to be considered.
TRAVEL MEDICAL
To ensure that you are properly covered, you need to purchase your travel insurance before you leave, and it should be active from the day that you depart to the day that you return home.
The travel insurance provided through your credit card company is often limited and may only cover you for a certain duration of time. It also may carry an age maximum. It’s better to know before you go and explore your options thoroughly to make sure that you are fully covered.
In some cases, your provincial coverage may provide a small element of coverage, but you will still be left with large financial vulnerabilities. Travel insurance will help to bridge that gap.
It’s also important to note that if you are covered under a group plan through your employer, you may already have significant travel coverage and not need a supplementary plan.
Although you can purchase bundled coverage, the broad term of travel insurance can be misleading, and the emergency medical component of travel insurance differs from trip cancellation and other available products. Make sure you understand exactly what coverage you have before leaving for your trip so that you can avoid heads and potential financial impacts down the road.
TERM LIFE INSURANCE
There can be a whole host of reasons. Most commonly, many people purchase term insurance at a stage in their lives when they have family who relies on them financially and desires for those individuals to be protected in the event of their untimely passing.
Later in life, they may be financially secure enough that they can care for those loved ones after death via their savings and the sale of their assets. At which point, they may no longer need the protection that life insurance provides.
Term policies range from 10 to 30 years. Whether it be 15 years or 25 years, the length of the policy that you choose will be influenced by the stage of life that you’re in, your long-term goals and your budget.
Yes! Getting life insurance while you’re young and healthy is highly recommended. Your situation and wellbeing can change at a moment’s notice so it’s important to invest in life insurance while you have the opportunity to.
PERMANENT LIFE INSURANCE
]: If an individual wants, or needs, peace of mind for the entirety of their lives then a permanent policy is the perfect solution. Unlike term insurance, a permanent policy sticks with you.
Simply put, permanent insurance has a cash value component to it which can be used as collateral for a loan from a financial institution. You can then use that money as retirement income and at the time of death, the loan will be repaid using the funds from your death benefit.
Every year that your policy receives a dividend, it will buy additional paid-up insurance. Once you own that new insurance, the policy can’t go back down in cash value. So fast-forwarding to retirement, let’s say we have a year where the stock market is down, either by crashing or just having a low year, and your RRSP or other investments are negatively impacted: this could be the year you choose to take a loan for income using your life insurance policy as collateral (with no need to pay back the loan as the life insurance will do that in the future).
While the rest of your investments have gone down, your life insurance cash value is still worth the same amount. Currently, the projected policy dividend rate ranges from 5-6% a year depending on which insurance company you place your policy with.
Yes! The younger that you are, the easier it is to get life insurance since you are less likely to have health issues than someone who is more mature in age. Because of this assumption, an underwriter sees less risk for a younger and healthier person making it easier to obtain a policy.
CHILD LIFE INSURANCE
Investing in life insurance policies for your children while they are young can be incredibly advantageous and helps to safeguard them from critical health concerns that may limit their insurability as an adult
Generally speaking, the younger and healthier that you are, the less your life insurance premiums will be which is why your child’s premiums would be significantly lower than your own.
We sincerely hope that no one has to face this scenario, however, if your child were to pass away, the funds of their life insurance can help to cover the cost of final expenses and support the family financially while they take the time to grieve and heal.
KEY PERSON LIFE INSURANCE
Key person insurance is traditionally taken out on those who are an integral piece of the operations of the business. Most commonly, business partners will take our policies on each other, however, this coverage can extend to your leadership team and employees who are essential to the business’ success.
Not to be confused with a personal policy, the tax-free death benefit from a key person policy will go to the business and not the individual’s family.
In many instances, the loss of a key person will have detrimental impacts on the business which can extend beyond financial compensation. The funds from a key person policy will serve to see your business through this tough chapter and ensure solvency while a replacement is being investigated.
There is no magic number. The amount of the insurance policy will highly depend on the needs of your business. Using a multiple of the individuals’ salary, taking into account debt obligations and cash flow requirements are all important pieces to take into consideration when determining the amount of the key person policy.
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