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RAMQ Drug Plan Premiums Increasing
Effective July 1, 2004, premiums for the Régime d’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ) Drug Plan will increase. Some plan sponsors may wish to reduce their drug benefit co-insurance percentage to align it with the new RAMQ Drug Plan maximums. The ability to do this will depend on plan wording, the nature of employment contracts with employees and the existence of any collective agreements. If this option is available, any decision to reduce plan coverage should be made after a detailed examination of cost estimates and other factors affecting the employer’s business, as well as the total rewards package provided to employees.
New CIA Lump Sum Transfer Standard To Be
Effective February 1, 2005
On June 15, 2004, the Practice Standards Council of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries announced that the Standard of Practice for Determining Pension Commuted Values, originally scheduled to take effect on September 1, 2004, would take effect on February 1, 2005. Plan sponsors and administrators will now need to resume their activities to prepare for implementation of the new Standard.
Have We Outgrown Grow-in Benefits?
Nova Scotia recently introduced budget-related legislation containing clauses that would have eliminated grow-in benefits from the province's Pension Benefits Act. These clauses were subsequently removed from the legislation to allow more time to consider the implications of doing away with these benefits. While grow-in benefits are still alive and well, recent events beg the question: what are grow-in benefits, and have we outgrown them?
Ontario Budget Health Measures: What Will YOU Do?
To obtain a preliminary understanding of how employers plan on responding to the challenges posed by the recent Ontario Budget, we are conducting a quick survey of their reactions and intentions about the new OHP premium and planned delisting of services.
Final CAP Guidelines: Focus On Good Governance
On May 28, 2004 the Joint Forum of Financial Market Regulators released the long-awaited final version of its Guidelines for Capital Accumulation Plans. At the core of the Guidelines is the idea of good plan governance, including documentation of the plan operations, together with all major policies, decision making criteria, roles/responsibilities of the parties involved and oversight requirements. This documentation requirement represents the key difference between the Guidelines and the current practice of many plan sponsors.
Pension Funds Can Invest in Income Trusts (For Now)
In response to strong and broad-based criticism of new limits on pension fund investments in business income trusts announced in the 2004 Federal Budget, the Minister of Finance has decided to suspend the restrictions “to allow for further consultation.” However, the Minister left the door open to re-instating the restrictions in some form. In addition, the outcome of the upcoming federal election leaves considerable uncertainty as to how the federal government’s policy on income trusts will develop.
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