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 [email protected], and I am always reachable at [email protected].

Skip to minute 14:00 to hear about the VUMI Canada product, backed by Humania Assurance in Quebec.

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 [email protected] to request a quote from Beneplan & Humania.

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.

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.

In this unsponsored episode, Yafa Sakkejha, CEO of Beneplan, has a conversation with Mitch Hanlon, Vice President of Business Development at Claimsecure, to learn about their custom and unique Formulary Protect management program - plus how he started his own business, how he sold to business owners, and where he sees the industry going.

For Canadian employee benefits advisors: My attention as a business owner was caught when someone commented on my podcast, left us a google review, engaged with me on social media, saw me in my personal life in community work, and invited me to an offline event at the expense of the Canadian group insurance company.