Important Notice on NB Licensing Regulations

Earlier this year, New Brunswick’s Financial and Consumer Services Commission amended its rules (Rule INS-001) around licensing for participants in the insurance industry.

For us to be permitted to continue working with you and for you to remain eligible for commission payments for New Brunswick-based clients, these rules require that you provide documentation showing you are in full compliance with all regulatory requirements.

You  can review and update your NB license information here.

Once your agency’s updated license has been issued, please forward a copy of the certificate to [email protected] or provide to your assigned Medavie Blue Cross representative.

As a trusted partner, we appreciate your dedication to our mutual clients and your timely attention to this matter.

Reminder: New Rates Effective November 1, 2023 for Individual Business

Effective November 1, 2023, rates will be adjusted as per below.

• Complete Health rates will increase on average by 5.1%
• Assured Access rates will increase by 2.5%
• Options and Options Plus rates will increase by 12.6% and 10.03%

The adjusted rates will apply to new sales as well as to members renewing their plans, based on their renewal month.

Your tools:

We’ve updated our rate guides to help you quote for new clients or renewals:

• New Complete Health Rate Guide
• New Options/Options Plus Rate Renewal Sheet (existing client renewals only)
• New Assured Access Rate Guide

Please note: Our Complete Health and Assured Access rate calculators will be updated with the new rates on October 1, 2023. Rates for the Guaranteed Acceptance Health Plan will increase effective January 1, 2024 and we will provide the updated rates in November.

InConfidence Benefit Update

InConfidence

As announced in a previous communication, as of November 1st 2023, our inConfidence benefits will be provided by InkBlot. This confidential assistance program offers counselling and support by telephone, in person and online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. inConfidence® provides counselling for emotional health, addictions, workplace issues, parenting, elders and aging, consumer and community needs, education, disability, adoption, financial needs and legal needs.

 Services are provided by a network of qualified counsellors, and members can benefit from services such as 5 hours of individual counselling plus 5 hours of couple counselling and consultants. Additionally, members can select their counsellor.

Click here for our new inConfidence flyer.

FAQ - Diabetes Treatment

As announced in August 2023, in order to ensure all our individual members are treated equally and to ensure costs are being spent on their intended purpose, Prior Authorization is now being extended so that anyone prescribed Ozempic will be required to provide proof of a Type 2 Diabetes diagnosis.

As of September 1st, members impacted were sent a letter outlining their alternatives and provided with a transitional grace period. Prior Authorization for existing claimants will begin on November 1, 2023  

An FAQ on this matter has been created and added to the agent microsite. Click here to view.

New Office, Medavie Benefits+ Location in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador

We are excited to announce that we will be opening a new Medavie Blue Cross office in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, on October 16, 2023! This new space, located on Kenmount Road, will replace the former Viking Building office. We are also pleased to share this building will also be the location of our new Medavie Benefits+. This unique, walk-in centre, set to open in November, is a new model in customer service, helping members better understand their benefits, customize their plans, adopt our self-service technology and gain knowledge to support their wellness.

Stay tuned. More details to come!

End of Year Information

As we enter the last quarter of 2023 and start the last push to year-end, the Administration Teams for both Group and Individual Business are working diligently to complete all requests as quickly and accurately as possible. Each year, a deadline is set to guarantee the completion of work during the month of December. This deadline is to help guide teams to help set reasonable expectations to both internal and external clients.

Deadline for 2023 Bonus Bucks and Co-Op Funds

If you’ve earned Bonus Bucks and Co-op Funds through your 2022 net production, be sure to use them all before November 30, 2023! Co-op Funds help you pay for marketing initiatives that promote your business relationship with Medavie Blue Cross. You can use your Co-op dollars to offset the cost of print, radio and online ads and more!

You can also treat yourself with a gift from myreward.ca using your Bonus Bucks! Log on to your account to see how many Bonus Bucks you have available and claim before December 31, 2023.

Remember: If you don’t use, you lose those Bonus Buck and Co-op Funds at the end of the year.