Disability Income Plan
Changes to the Disability Income Plan Lump Sum Payouts [Nov 15, 2022]- Changes to the Disability Income Plans Nurse Practitioner [Nov 15, 2022]
How health and dental plan enhancements happen
Have you ever wondered how enhancements to the Extended Health Care and Enhanced Dental Plans happen?
Most often it starts with a suggestion or request from one of our plan members. 3sHealth Employee Benefits will work with the benefit plans consultant as well as with our insuring partner, Canada Life, to research the potential enhancement that the plan member suggested.
3sHealth Employee Benefits takes this information to the Working Committee, made up solely of union representatives from CUPE, HSAS, SEIU-West, SGEU, and SUN. The committee’s role is to oversee the in-scope Extended Health Care and Enhanced Dental Plan. If the committee agrees with the request and believes it would be both valuable for plan members and sustainable by the plan, the committee will make a recommendation to the Employee Benefit Plans Board of Trustees.
April 30th Claims Submission Deadline for Extended Health Care and Dental Claims
The April 30th claims submission deadline is approaching quickly. Please remind your employees that all extended health care and dental expenses incurred in 2021 must be submitted to Canada Life before April 30th, 2022.
Expenses incurred in 2021 that are received after April 30th, 2022 will not be considered for reimbursement.
CUPE members in the health sector have the opportunity to be members of one of four pension plans.
- Saskatchewan Healthcare Employees Pension Plan (SHEPP): defined benefit pension plan – www.shepp.ca
- Local Authorities Pension Plan (LAPP): defined benefit pension plan registered in Alberta – www.lapp.ca
- The Regina Civic Employees' Superannuation and Benefit Plan (RCPP): defined benefit pension plan – www.reginapensions.ca
- Public Employees Pension Plan (PEPP): defined contribution plan – www.peba.gov.sk.ca
What is the difference between a defined benefit pension plan and a defined contribution plan?
Defined Benefit Plan
- The benefits are “defined”, or guaranteed, for as long as the retiree lives. There is a “pension promise” – retirees can predict what their income will be for the rest of their lives.
- If there isn’t enough money in the fund, the employer (and sometimes employee) contributions increase.
- This is a collective approach, with working employees paying into the fund so that retiree benefits can flow out of it.
Defined Contribution Plan
- Defined contribution plans are also called money purchase plans.
- This is an individual approach – each employee has an individual savings account.
- Everyone’s “account” is a different size, depending on their salary, how long they’ve been in the plan, and the performance of their investments.
- On their retirement day, they are given the amount of money that is in their account (that might be bigger or smaller on that day, depending on market returns).
Health Benefit Plan
CUPE health sector members have an opportunity to be members of the following benefit plans:
- Core Dental Plan
- Extended Health and Dental Plan
- Disability Income Plan
- Life Insurance Plan
Contributions for the core dental, extended health and dental, and life insurance plans are paid in full by the employer on behalf of members. Contributions for the disability income plan are shared equally between employees and employers.
These plans are administered by Shared Service Saskatchewan (3sHealth).
www.3shealth.ca/our-work/employee-benefits-program
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