Employee Benefits Basics

Why Allstate Canada designed their critical illness product to pay out more claims - group insurance guaranteed issue CI Canada

Beneplan is excited to be adding Allstate Canada as a provider on its TPA platform for group benefits, and the reason why they were chosen as a provider for group critical illness, especially distributed on an individual voluntary basis, is because their contracts and terms and conditions show that they will pay claims faster and more often with expanded definitions compared to other products. Beneplan CEO Yafa Sakkejha sits down with Dante Dedomenicis, Vice President of Allstate Canada, and Teddy Fedoryn, Manager of Distribution, in the spring of 2026 to get into the nitty gritty of their philosophy on pre-existing conditions, how to deal with illnesses in a gray area like Alzheimer's, cancer, how kids are automatically added to coverage, and how they don't have a survival period. To work with Beneplan, please contact our advisor wholesaler Diane Carvalho, Vice President of Broker Success, at diane@beneplan.ca - or call 1-800-387-1670. // Beneplan est heureuse d'accueillir Allstate Canada à titre de fournisseur sur sa plateforme d'administrateur tiers (ATP) pour les avantages sociaux collectifs. Si Allstate Canada a été choisie comme fournisseur pour l'assurance maladies graves collective — distribuée notamment sur une base individuelle et volontaire — c'est parce que ses contrats ainsi que ses modalités et conditions démontrent qu'elle règle les réclamations plus rapidement et plus souvent, grâce à des définitions élargies par rapport aux autres produits sur le marché. Yafa Sakkejha, s'entretient au printemps 2026 avec Dante Dedomenicis, vice-président d'Allstate Canada, et Teddy Fedoryn, directeur de la distribution, afin d'approfondir leur philosophie en matière de conditions préexistantes, leur approche à l'égard des maladies en zone grise comme l'Alzheimer et le cancer, l'ajout automatique des enfants à la couverture, ainsi que l'absence de période de survie. Pour travailler avec Beneplan, veuillez communiquer avec notre courtier grossiste Diane Carvalho, vice-présidente au succès des courtiers, à l'adresse diane@beneplan.ca [diane@beneplan.ca] — ou par téléphone au 1-800-387-1670.

Is VUMI the best kept secret in Canadian private insurance?

Canadian healthcare is going through a shift. Whether you believe universal healthcare is better than 'two-tiered' healthcare or vice versa, Canadian business leaders have been teaching each other how to pay to 'shorten the wait' for decades. Obtaining legal private healthcare in Canada can mean many things - pledging to donate money...and then kindly mentioning to your main point of contact that you happen to need to see a specialist, and who they think is the best? It could mean spending dollars towards preventative health items that are technically "uninsured" thereby bypassing the law that it is illegal to charge Canadians for 'insured' services. It could mean going to a different province or country to seek care - another workaround. We have seen people go to the province next door like Quebec or Alberta to get help. Or, it can mean staying in your home province, maybe even Ontario, and leveraging the third party workaround. I can't tell you how many times business owners have asked me in a hushed whisper, effectively, "Can't I just buy an MRI somewhere instead of wait a month?" And then asking the clinic owner/operators, and them responding in a hushed whisper "yes, but don't tell too many people." As someone who is used to transparent and disclosure, it feels unnatural to me to keep gatekeeping this information. I've overheard conversations in rooms where Canadian business leaders are now speaking more openly about how they paid tens of thousands of dollars to a doctor or clinic outside of Canada to "skip the line" and get surgery faster. The information right now is hidden, taboo, confusing, and as a result, Canadians who are willing to spend a large share of wallet are sleepwalking into the stereotype of "just cross the border and pay a clinic" ... instead, we should as a country, be honest about how Canadians CAN keep their dollars in Canada, to buy private healthcare, including MRIs, surgeries, and other items. Here to help explain this entire industry is Gino Stirpe from Vumi Canada. VUMI is a concierge private health insurance plan for Canadians to help them receive medical treatments, surgeries and more on a private and legal basis. Gino will explain how they've built an entire business and insurance ecosystem around it, and why Canadians can buy private medical insurance for the same cost as their existing employee benefit plan, depending on their age and other factors. To request a quote, or learn more about VUMI, please email Beneplan at Diane@beneplan.ca, and I am always reachable at Yafa@beneplan.ca. Skip to minute 14:00 to hear about the VUMI Canada product, backed by Humania Assurance in Quebec.

Compassionate Leave Disability Benefits - a radical new way of thinking when a child or spouse is sick

Traditional group long term disability plans in Canada are centered around paying an employee for lost wages if their disability prevents them from earning an income. But what happens when the employee can't work because their SPOUSE or CHILD is disabled and the employee is their caregiver? Should they be paid? Beneplan CEO and Canadian group benefits expert Yafa Sakkejha speaks to Philippe Berberi, Vice President of Group Insurance of Humania Assurance, a Quebec-based 150 year old mutual insurance company. Philippe invented the concept of compassionate care LTD when his own mother had to retire form work to take care of her son, Philippe's brother, who developed cancer. As one of the top 1% of actuaries in the world, Philippe used his powers for good (a Beneplan value) to bring a new product to market, embed it within existing LTD contracts, and choose not to charge new premium for it. He is truly a luminary and visionary in our industry and we are already seeing other insurance companies copy Philippe's great idea. To add compassionate care LTD, email service@beneplan.ca to request a quote from Beneplan & Humania.

The Gruffalo + mental math + lead gen

Today, we talk about how supporting an entrepreneur in my personal life lead to 12 leads coming in (that I shared with other benefits advisors), doing mental math in your head, removing the fear of being black listed, and The Gruffalo.

How to conduct initial meetings with prospects

Sonny wrote in to ask, 'what conversations or questions should we ask with a new client who is looking to set up a new employee benefit plan, or looking to leave their current group insurance broker?' Thanks for the question Sonny, and here's my take. Group benefits can be complex, especially in Canada, so we start with a 50,000 foot view and start to dig deeper from there.