Happy May!

A LOT of people have had their medications rejected by Greenshield, me included.

Also, somewhere in the drug benefit policy (which I haven't personally seen), it states that Greenshield will only cover a portion of the cost of the GENERIC brand of medication.  Greenshield's coverage is a moving target - sometimes you get 70% of a covered medication, sometimes not. 

On March 1, 2024 OREA put out an email showing just how rushed and ill-prepared their scheme has been. In case you missed it:

"For the past two months, the number one priority for OREA has been addressing the unacceptable service levels Members are experiencing when reaching out to ORWP Administrator, Comprehensive Benefits Solutions (CBS).

We are taking a leadership role in fixing this with CBS. Our plan includes several improvements that have already been made and several planned actions being implemented. These include (1) increasing CBS and GreenShield customer support staff, (2) extending operating hours, (3) upgrading their phone and email systems to ensure a better Member experience, and (4) extending the ORWP Open Enrollment Period to March 15th, among others."

I have a few questions: why is OREA's number one priority something that has NOTHING to do with real estate and who paid for the implemented "improvements"? Does OREA somehow have some sway over hiring at Greenshield and CBS? Did they not foresee that signing up 100,000 people would take a bit of effort?

I'm also confused....is it Comprehensive Benefits Solutions? Or Comprehensive Benefit Solutions? It's like the name is interchangeable and I don't know which one we're dealing with on any given day. Typically it'd just be a matter of semantics or typo, but  not in this case. In this case one of those entities had an FSRA warning in February 2020 (https://www.fsrao.ca/enforcement-and-monitoring/enforcement-actions/comprehensive-benefits-solutions-and-trillium-health-services-warning-notice and one hasn't. 

Over the past few months I have participated in several meetings with MPP's. We are requesting they introduce legislation that would protect a self-employed person's right to choose their own health and life insurance plans without the threat of being cut off from an association who holds the tools vital to doing their job.

I have heard rumbles that the Competition Bureau and Human Rights Tribunal have  requested more information. Sounds positive to me. After all, OREA is calling this a "dues increase" should mean that all members should be entitled to the same benefits for the payment of those dues. They can't call it dues, then fall back on the insurance industry exemption from age discrimination. It's one or the other.  Because if you are going to call it insurance premiums, I will be the first to contact FSRA to ask how a real estate association is selling me insurance!

I'm optimistic. It really shouldn't be difficult to see the violation under section 77 of the Competition Bureau. I also have questions surrounding a few sections of the Insurance Act. Stimulating reading if you have nothing to do on a Thursday afternoon. 

I've heard that several realtors have passed away in the first 4 months of the ORWP - my deepest condolences to their families, friends and colleagues. I haven't heard if collecting the life insurance money under the ORWP was a seamless process or not. 

Don't be hoodwinked into thinking the plan is a win for OREA because people are using it. Well, ya, people are using it. They're forced to pay for it, why wouldn't they use it? 

It'd be easy to become complacent, as in, oh well, it's here now, there's nothing we can do about it. But this whole movement isn't about the money or the crappy plan. It's about the mandate. It's always been about the mandate. It's about OREA doing this behind our backs. It's about making sure this doesn't embolden them to do something else like this down the road - think cell phone providers or car insurance coverage. 

Enjoy the beautiful day and remember, today is a great day to have a great day!