About Your Benefit Plan and What Your Benefit Plan Provides
Your IBEW Local 353 Benefit Plan is one of the most comprehensive benefit plans in the Ontario construction industry, covering you, your eligible spouse, and your dependents. Below is an overview of your benefit plan coverage. To learn more about your benefit plan, read your benefit plan booklet.
Benefit Providers & Resources
Canada Life – 1-844-232-4239
Click here to login to Canada Life GroupNet.
All medical and dental claims for members and eligible dependents of the IBEW Local 353 are adjudicated and reviewed by Canada Life. Reimbursement is limited to reasonable and customary charges for all benefits. Consult your benefit booklet for more details or call your IBEW Local 353 Canada Life direct line at 1-844-232-4239.
TEIBAS Tip: Remember you must submit claims to Canada Life within 1 year of the date you incurred the expense or your claim will not be paid.
By registering for Canada Life GroupNet, you will be able to instantly submit claims, review your claims history, and to access your self-directed Group RRSP. Click here to register for GroupNet for Plan Members.
Once you register you can download the Canada Life app through your Android or IOS App Store.
TEIBAS Tip: Keep your password private and secure to prevent fraudulent claim submissions.
Telus Health – 1-866-289-6749
As a member of IBEW Local 353 you have the added benefit of your Member Assistance Program (MAP), Telus Health (formerly LifeWorks).
It’s support when you need it, for all kinds of issues. If you’re feeling stressed about work, family, finances, or need you need some help finding services for life’s complications, contact Telus Health. Your MAP provides 24/7 confidential short-term counselling at your fingertips anytime, anywhere whether online, on the phone, or on their app. Your MAP also offers a range of wellness tools and personalized recommendations such as digital clinical programs, and assessments to help you reach your health and fitness goals and keep you on track.
Your MAP is available 24/7/365: call the Care Access Centre toll-free at 1-866-289-6749 and indicate that you are a member of the IBEW Local 353. Or visit one.telushealth.com | Username: canadalife | Password: telus1
Teledoc – 1-877-419-2378
Teladoc is a confidential service offered to you and your eligible dependents as part of your IBEW Local 353 benefits. Teladoc provides a comprehensive medical review of a medical diagnosis and provides a review of your treatment plan and can make recommendations that are best for you. Whether you need medical questions answered, a diagnosis double-checked, help deciding on a treatment plan, or guidance about a surgery, they provide an expert medical opinion when you need it most.
Teladoc Medical Experts provides a range of services that can help you:
- Feel confident about your diagnosis and treatment options,
- Answer your medical questions and concerns,
- Find a specialist or treatment facility either within or outside of Canada, and
- Navigate the healthcare system with useful resources.
If you’re in doubt, it’s best to call Teladoc — it’s a service that is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and is completely confidential. For more information visit www.teladoc.ca/canadalife or call 1-877-419-2378.
Travel Insurance 1-833-685-2790
If you are sick or injured while away from home, your travel medical insurance program provides important coverage. Your travel insurance is provided by Manulife. The travel medical emergency insurance and assistance plan covers a wide range of medical emergencies, but it doesn’t cover everything. When it comes to medical insurance it’s better to be safe than sorry — so know what’s covered and what’s not. Refer to the Travel Insurance Booklet and download your digital travel insurance card available at www.myteibas.com for coverage information.
Before you receive medical treatment:
• Call Manulife using the numbers shown on your medical assistance card.
• Tell the Manulife representative your group policy number: actives: ECK00013287 & retirees: ECK00013288.
If you have a travel emergency, you must call one of the below numbers for Manulife immediately before seeking medical treatment:
- from Canada and the U.S. toll-free at 1-833-685-2790, or
- from anywhere in the world call collect +1-519-735-9448.
Download the TravelAid mobile app here: www.active-care.ca/travelaid.
The app provides immediate access to the Assistance Centre is also available through its TravelAid mobile app. The TravelAid mobile app can also provide you with directions to the nearest medical facility, local emergency telephone numbers (such as 911 in North America), and pre- and post-departure travel tips.
How Your Benefit Plan Works
Even though an insurance company processes benefit claims, most of your benefits, including drugs, health, vision, dental, short-term disability and the first 10 years of long-term disability payments, are self-insured. This means eligible claims are paid directly from the benefit plan by members’ earned contributions, and not the insurance company.
As a member of IBEW Local 353 you become eligible for benefit coverage on the first day of the second month after TEIBAS receives 450 working hours of contribution, within a period of no more than six consecutive months. Once you’re eligible, TEIBAS deducts 135 bank hours every month to pay for your benefit coverage. Any hours you work over 135 in a month are saved to your hour bank for future use. After becoming eligible, if you don’t have the required 135 hours to maintain benefit coverage in a month, the benefit plan will subsidize you if you qualify. (See your benefit booklet for more details.)
When you fully retire you may qualify for retiree benefits for you, your spouse, and any eligible dependants at no cost to you. In the event of your death, benefit coverage is extended to your surviving spouse and/or eligible dependents at no cost to them for 5 years. After that, they are eligible to continue in the plan by paying monthly premiums.
Canada Life adjudicates claims for the benefit plan based on the coverage and provisions in the plan documents.
Benefit Coverage
The benefit plan has evolved over the years from providing basic drug and medical coverage to today’s comprehensive coverage that includes some of the best benefits in the Ontario construction industry.
Examples of your excellent coverage include:
- Eligible prescription drugs covered up to 100% with no deductibles or co-pays,
- Long-term disability coverage of up to $3,400 per month (no offset for receiving CPP disability benefits – and it’s payable until age 62 so long as you continue to meet the definition of totally disabled),
- $2,500 of paramedical coverage per insured, per year
- $2,500 of psychological services per insured, per year
- Comprehensive dental coverage,
- Life insurance of $150,000, and
- Fully retired benefit coverage at no cost.
Did you know? The benefit plan also subsidizes coverage for members when they are most vulnerable, which means benefit coverage is extended to eligible members at no cost to them when they are:
- Out-of-work due to a layoff, or
- Attending trade school, or
- Ill, injured or on disability/WSIB, and
- On an eligible leave under the Ontario Employment Standards Act.
For more information on your benefit plan, read your benefit plan booklet here here or log into myteibas.com. If you’re an eligible member of the IBEW Local 353, click here to create an account on myteibas.com and view details about your benefit coverage, pension entitlements, and the personal information we have on file for you.