Your “Savvy Retiree” Newsletter for December 2024
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The year 2024 began with the issue of the sustainability of the regime. After consulting the archives of the Comité consultatif des retraités (CCR), I realized that this topic was first discussed in spring 2015. It was not until the end of October this year that the government made a decision. The matter is closed unless the representatives of the assets decide to become the lessee of the plan. For our part, we continue to maintain our position: the government must remain the taker of the plan. This will not prevent us from continuing to discuss so that insured persons under 65 years of age can, as soon as they retire, go directly to the Quebec drug plan.
As the issue of sustainability was not resolved, Secrétariat du Conseil du trésor (SCT) did not authorize us to consult with you to improve the criteria for reimbursing eligible care for health professionals in the enriched plan. The last consultation was in March 2014, which is unacceptable. As soon as the government announced that the plan would continue, we reactivated the committee responsible for the enhancement. We will need to report the results of our work to the head of the SCT in early 2025 in order to complete the survey with you as quickly as possible. We hope that the changes you propose will be ready for the 2026 renewal.
As you will see, 2023 ended with a large deficit, and 2024 is no more encouraging. Negotiation with the insurer has been more difficult than in previous years, but we believe that we have reached an acceptable proposal.
In order to reduce the increase in premiums, we have decided to no longer reimburse drugs for obesity for 2024. Only insured persons whose drugs were already reimbursed will be eligible for a one-year transition period. We strongly believe that the government should add obesity drugs to the RAMQ list.
The coordinator has continued to respond to the requests of insured persons who experience certain difficulties with their claim. Thanks to her hard work, she managed to resolve cases for the benefit of some insured persons.
We encourage you to follow our newsletters and visit the CCR website as this is the easiest way to get the latest news from your representatives.
Mr. Robert Fortier, representative of the Association des cadres supérieurs de la santé et des services sociaux (ACSSSS), has informed me that he is stepping down from his position at the CCR. Mr. Fortier joined the committee in 2006, served as spokesperson from 2015 to March 2018, and has remained a member to this day. For 18 years, he volunteered to help the advisory committee function, including advocating for the sustainability of the plan and ensuring that the government remained the lessee of the plan. On behalf of the committee members and on your behalf, I thank him for his great generosity and rigour in the files he sponsored.
In last year’s report, we informed you that the insurer Beneva had launched a lawsuit against the government for the sum of $13 million. For our plan, the amount is about $1 million in Beneva's portfolio. The novelty is that Blue Cross joined the lawsuit, which indicates that the case is sufficiently justified for another company to decide to sue the government. We'll let you know as soon as there's something new.
Mr. Benoit Dufresne, the current SCT representative will be retiring at the end of 2024. We thank him for listening and especially for his involvement in the issue of sustainability. We wish him an excellent retirement. Ms. Andrée Taboureau has already been in office since early December. We welcome him and assure him of our cooperation.
On August 29, Beneva filed the conditions of renewal as of January 1, 2025, of the group insurance plan for retirees in the public and parapublic sectors of the Government of Quebec, representatives of the Treasury Board (TBS) and representatives of retirees. For the whole plan, the increase requested is 33.7%. Our actuary advises us that the negotiations are going to be more difficult than in previous years. After several discussions, he tabled a document with TBS representatives who agreed with his analysis. The actuary’s work was the starting point for our discussions with the insurer.
In January 2024, we announced the possibility of a significant deficit for 2023. This was eventually confirmed. The contract resulted in a deficit of $5,164,828, or 11.6% of the participating premiums. This deficit was absorbed through the stabilization fund, which was $6,883,006 as of December 31, 2022. Moreover, the situation for 2024 is no better. The contract could generate another deficit of more than 10%.
To minimize the increases as of January 1, 2025, we proposed that the pooling mechanism be removed from our agreement considering that no case has exceeded the pooling threshold ($1,000,000) for several years and that the size of the group would be able to absorb the impact of a large claim. This amendment reduces the proposed increases by 1.2%.
Following the market introduction of the Wegovy weight control medicine, the insurer exceptionally added an adjustment factor of more than 5 %. This forced us to withdraw weight-control medicines to limit the increase in premiums in 2025. Insured persons who received reimbursement for these drugs in 2024 will be entitled to a transition year. At the next renewal, we will reassess this decision in light of the 2024-2025 results.
At the end of the negotiation and with the withdrawal of pooling and drugs to combat obesity, the increase in health insurance for 2025 is 21.9%. Overall, the increase is 14.4%.
Finally, we decided to give a 3% premium leave to all pensioners of the plan except for insured persons who pay the premium. This premium holiday costs the plan $1,210,000, which includes sales tax of 9%.
Pricing Changes
Accident and health insurance plan
The rate change for each of the categories is shown in the table below.
Your plan « At a glance » / January 2025
Life Insurance Plan
The pricing remains at its current level for the life insurance of the retiree and the retiree's spouse's additional life insurance.
The pricing remains for the life insurance of the retiree's spouse and dependent children.
Contractual Change
X-rays with an authorized podiatrist will now be reimbursed.
On the occasion of the holidays, your representatives wish you a very beautiful holiday season with your family or friends.
