Reminder: Use Your Benefits
The holiday season symbolizes a lot of things. It’s a time to reflect on memories over the past year and beyond. It’s about appreciating your loved ones and spending time with friends and family. It’s about looking forward with hope and curiosity to the coming year and all the things we want to do. But before we close out on a year and begin a new one, we have one little reminder: Use your benefits.
Benefits?
Yes! Benefits! More specifically, health benefits. We’re talking about your massage therapy, dentist, eye and glasses benefits and everything in between.
Benefits are a part of your compensation
Did you know that benefits can add up to be 20% - 30% of your total compensation for your job? The more you use them, the more you get out of your employer. And they are 100% there to be used! You should look at them as much a part of your salary as you do your paycheque.
Now, these benefits are health benefits, yes, but they also include sick time and vacation time.
In 2021, about 76% of the Canadian population were covered by life and health insurance. So there’s a huge amount of money in Employer and private health insurance that could be wasted.
Common coverage for health benefits
Private benefits – either paid into by a self employed person or by your company or employer, help to cover the costs for health care outside of the universal coverage in Canada. Ususally, benefits include:
Eye exams
Glasses
Dentist
Massage therapy
Acupuncture
Prescriptions
Orthotics
Psychotherapy
Paid medical leave
Certain plans can cover more or less than this, of course, and will have different amounts of copay depending on your package.
Why people don’t use their benefits
There are many reasons that people could not use their benefits. Do you recognize yourself in any of there?
You don’t understand your coverage
A Sanofi Canada Healthcare Survey reported that 13% of people stated they understood their benefits “very well”. That’s a very low number. Not understanding what coverage you have and how it works is a huge reason not to use them. How do you use them if you don’t know what they are?
You don’t have time
To use benefits, you need to have time time to go and actually use them. If you need to take time off work then many people simply don’t.
Having the money to pay upfront
Some benefits cover the cost right then and there, but many involve you paying upfront and then you’re reimbursed for that cost. Not everyone can shell out a few hundred dollars for glasses or a dentist appointment and wait for that money to be returned.
You forget about them
In the midst of a busy year with lots to do both personally and at work, it’s easy to forget you have these benefits to use.
Why you should use your benefits
Besides it being a part of your compensation and helping to cover health costs for you and your family, these benefits help you take care of yourself physically and mentally. The whole idea of benefits it to reduce the pressure of paying for medical care and to give you the ability to use these services.
All parts of your body need to be taken care of to remain healthy. That includes your teeth, eyes, feet, muscles, joints and everything in between. So, not using your benefits is like turning away services that you either don’t have to pay for, or that you get at a drastically reduced rate (depending again on your copay).
Learn what’s covered
Your employer or benefits provider should have a book that outlines all of your benefits and coverage details. Reach out to your HR team and they should help you find all the info you need to get started. Read through your health package and ask all the questions you have. As we said, the best way to make sure you use your benefits is to fully understand what is covered by them.
Use them soon!
Many benefit packages are good for a year, and most restart in the calendar year. So, you have a few weeks left to make the most of your benefits package!
Book that massage! Order those glasses! Do everything you can now to make sure you max out your coverage before January.
Add reminders to your calendar every 3 months to use them so you make use throughout the year.
Book your sleep study, while you’re at it!
Sleep studies are covered by OHIP and you don’t need health benefits in order to book one. But you should reach out to your doctor for a referral and set up your study today. Sleep studies are an excellent way to get to know your sleep habits and what happens to your body while you’re conked out.