This is to advise of changes to your dental plan coverage. CMG members at the CBC have been questioning the level of benefits covered by the dental plan for years now, saying the reimbursement is too low. Current payments are based on the 2010 provincial dental fee guides. Dental plans like ours often lag behind these fee guides by a year or two, but we have fallen too far behind. That is about to change.
Effective February 8, 2016, the Dental Fee Guide will be updated from the current 2010 guide to the 2015 version, which means increased reimbursements for many dental procedures. If you have any dental procedures scheduled before then, you may want to consider rescheduling until after February 8.
In addition, changes will be made to how your dental coverage is funded. This funding is provided in two ways:
- The collective agreements in the1990s provided for a contribution by CBC/Radio-Canada of 1% of the total CMG employee payroll, each year, for dental coverage. This portion of the funding will not change.
- Each member currently also makes direct contributions to the plan through payroll deductions. This payment is tied to Basic Life insurance and, in addition, some members pay an additional premium as a percentage of their salary.
Here is what is changing with the way employee contributions are made to the plan:
- Starting with the pay date of March 3, 2016, employee contributions for Basic Life Insurance will cease. On this same date, all members will begin paying a premium of $10 per pay. This new premium will be in effect until March 31, 2017. Any impact will be offset by the higher amount that’s reimbursed when you file a claim.
- The premium should be $14.01 per pay, but will be subsidized by an accumulated surplus in the dental plan.
- The plan will be monitored yearly by the CMG members of the Consultative Committee on Staff Benefits (CCSB) and CBC/Radio-Canada to make sure it does not run a deficit. The aim is to keep up with the provincial fee guides in the future. Subsequent changes, if applicable, would be made annually on April 1, starting in 2017.
No other changes are in store for your dental coverage at this time. Great-West Life will continue to administer the plan.
It should be noted that these changes have been approved by your CMG representatives at the Consultative Committee on Staff Benefits, the CMG Branch Executive Committee, and CBC/Radio-Canada.
Marc-Philippe Laurin
President, CBC Branch – CMG