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health insurance

Saskatchewan Health Insurance 101

Good morning everyone. As you are well aware, the cooler weather is unfortunately upon us. Summer has come and gone, but it’s time to think about bundling up, and potentially going on a warm vacation to escape this transition of prairie grass to arctic tundra.

With the cooler weather and the beginning of the school year, you are bound to get sick. It’s not a matter of – if, it’s just a matter of – when. Health is something we take for granted until it is in question. Weather it is a slipped disc, kidney stone, cold & flu, broken bone or torn muscle. We don’t appreciate our health until it’s gone.

Therefore, we always recommend looking into your health benefits. Whether, it is through a work/group plan or by purchasing your own plan, health coverage needs to be a priority in your life. Some major checkpoints to review your plan would be:

Family Changes – Getting Married or having children are important times to review your health insurance policy. You will want to make sure all family members are added on the policy and that coverage is in place. When you have a child, you have 60 days with Blue Cross to simply phone into their call centre and add your child to your policy over the phone. If you miss that window, you can simply fill out a form to add your dependent to your policy.

Job Change – Switching roles or jobs can result in different benefits in your plan. It is important to make sure your coverage transfers and that you continue to be properly covered. Being on the payroll and then hired on as a contractor or consultant can change whether your are insured on their group plan or responsible for your own insurance policy. Please make sure you review these changes.

Retirement – Going along with the job change, when you retire, you will no longer be covered under your employer’s group policy. You will need to file for a individual plan for you and your family. Blue cross has a easy conversion calculator to see what your plan would cost with Blue Cross. You can access the quoting tool on our website here. Or go on blue cross site here.

Basic Health Plans generally include coverage for:

  1. Ambulance
  2. Hospital
  3. Private Nursing
  4. Accidental Dental
  5. Medical Equipment
  6. Hearing Aids
  7. Prosthetic & Medical Appliances
  8. Diabetic Supplies & Equipment
  9. Orthopaedic Shoes & Supplies
  10. Mobility Aids
  11. Blood Pressure Monitors
  12. Ostomy Supplies
  13. Out of Saskatchewan/In Canada Travel
  14. Vision Care

Many of these items have limits in coverage, please check your health plan to see what your policy covers. If you would like us to review your plan, please bring your policy into our office and we can take a look. You can also add other options to your plan. Such as:

  1. Prescription Drugs
  2. Dental
  3. Hospital Cash
  4. VIP Travel
  5. Critical Illness
  6. Term Life Insurance
  7. Student Accident*

If you have any questions about this coverage, please call your insurance provider, or come by with your policy and we can review it for you. Our Health Insurance providers include Blue Cross & Group Medical Services (GMS). We offer Allianz Insurance for more specialty plans.

Staying healthy through the winter – easier said than done.

Welcome to that time of year, where your house becomes a living, moving, breathing Petri dish. Wherever we go, hockey rinks, Christmas concerts, basketball games or going out caroling (Do people still do that?); there are sick people that will make a point to sneeze and cough in your general direction. If they’re miserable, they want to make sure everyone else is miserable as well. Kidding! It just seems like that when we are healthy. 

So how do we stay healthy through the winter? If I had the magic formula, I would likely not be writing this blog, but would rather be making a ton of money as a doctor or naturopath. That being said, those are the people you want to talk to when it comes to preventative medicine or flu shots or things of that nature. However, here is my two cents on some natural methods.

Wash your hands

This may be something so simple that it probably gets forgotten. In case you didn’t notice, we touch everything. Door knobs, cutlery, countertops, bathrooms, our faces, etc. Germs travel around like your gypsy Aunt Catherine – “when will she ever settle down?” So it is important to wash our hands to stop the germs from spreading.

Drinking Water

We live in a society of energy drinks, coffee, beer and booster juice. These things have their place when you need a pick me up. But nothing helps replenish our body than drinking plenty of water. 6-8 glasses is what is recommended. This will help with your digestion and keep up your hydration. After all, our body is made up of 60% water, we should try and keep it up there. For men, the other 40% is hot air & gas, but who’s keeping track.

Vitamin C

This happens to be the most powerful immune boosting vitamin around. It is found in many fruits and vegetables: Oranges, broccoli, Kiwi, Red & Green Peppers, Strawberries, etc. You can also purchase some chewable vitamin c tablets in most health food stores; if you need the extra kick. Taking a good quality multi-vitamin will also contain Vitamin C alongside other supplements.

Activity

It is important to stay active. Continuing with your exercises will help you stay fit, but will help boost your immune system function, decrease your stress level and keep your weight down. It is almost like the doctor recommends it. I wish binge watching netflix with a tub of ice cream was one of the recommendations. Just once!

We take our health for granted when we feel good. So let’s try and take some steps so that we don’t have to catch that dreaded “Men’s Cold” where we are knocked out for a day (woman) or month (man). Be proactive and keep yourself healthy and strong this winter.