Sun Life Enhances Benefits Solution for Micro Businesses

December 9, 2009 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The Employee Benefits Group division of Sun Life Financial, Inc. has announced enhancements to its E-Z Choice benefit solutions offered to employers with two to nine employees.

The E-Z Choice program offers group dental, group life, long term disability, and short term disability. According to a press release, recent enhancements to the E-Z Choice products include three comprehensive core dental plans; increased plan maximums for short term disability; and, three-year rate guarantees on life and disability plans. Contribution levels can be tailored from fully employer-paid to fully employee-paid.

The E-Z Choice three core dental plans with plan maximums set at $1,000, $1,200, and $1,500 have no deductible on Type 1 expenses; a Maximum Carryover Benefit Account; covered oral cancer screening, implants, and sealants; and a vision discount card. With the free vision discount card program, employees save on procedures, glasses, and contacts when they visit participating retail vision providers.

Once a core dental plan is selected, coverage can be customized further with optional benefits like coverage for orthodontics; adding PPO for access to national and regional provider networks and discounts; and upgrading to a fully-insured vision insurance plan, the announcement said.

E-Z Choice short term disability (STD) plans can be offered with a benefit duration of 13 or 26 weeks and maximums as high as $1,500. A progressive approach to rehabilitation combines early intervention through flexible claim notification, nurse case consultation, vocational rehabilitation, Social Security assistance, and online case management.

The E-Z Choice long term disability (LTD) plan benefit is 60% to a maximum of $6,000 with the choice of a 60-day, 90-day, or 180-day elimination period. All plans include a partial disability benefit, rehabilitation benefit, survivor benefit, premium waiver, and a partial benefit for pre-existing conditions.

An optional Employee Assistance Program (EAP) can be added to any disability or group life plan.

E-Z choice customers have access to online plan administration tools including viewing and paying bills; managing user access; updating member information; ordering dental ID cards; viewing plan certificates; downloading forms and administration guides; and emailing Sun Life in a HIPAA-compliant environment. Employees can also use online tools to find dental providers; view online explanation of benefits; estimate the cost of dental procedures based on zip code; and learn about the link between oral health and overall health with educational materials. Many features are available in Spanish.

For more information, go to www.sunlife.com/us.

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