Under the terms of the agreement, Canada Life will invest financially and strategically in the e-claims exchange for an initial term of five years and become the second major insurance company to do so.
This agreement fits perfectly with the underlying objectives of our e-business strategy which is to facilitate self-service, enhance the customer experience and drive greater efficiencies into our operation, said Tom Corcoran, Vice-President, Group Insurance, Canadian Division Canada Life. For example, each month we send out some 12,000 premium statements to our corporate group plan customers and we think sending them electronically and receiving payment electronically will be a ground-breaking and positive change for Canada Life, for our customers and for the entire industry.
Canada Life is a powerful addition to our e-claims exchange. As we further build our exchange and integrate strong premiums-to-pay functionalities, beyond the core adjudication function, insurers are understanding its value and how it closely ties into their operations, stated Ron Loucks, Executive Vice-President, BCE Emergis, eHealth Solutions Group – North America.
As a Charter participant of the e-claims exchange, Canada Life will have an active role in the continued development of the exchange, including its standards, by providing expertise and resources to conceive of, improve and test the systems as they are developed and enhanced.
Emergis and Clarica Life Insurance Company launched the e-claims exchange in March with the intent of bringing in other insurance company members to further build the exchange. The first phase of the online claims exchange has been delivered. Functionality will expand over the coming months with the exchange becoming fully functional in 2002 for all health insurance companies involved.
Emergis® e-Claims Exchange will allow individual group plan members to easily access and complete forms via the Internet, to file them electronically and to be quickly reimbursed for various health claims such as drug, dental, vision, hospital, supplementary healthcare, out-of-country and healthcare spending account claims. Group plan members submit completed claims forms for eligibility verification, processing and adjudication over a secure platform. They can receive payment in their personal bank account or can have a cheque mailed to them. The exchange will include value-add services such as explanation of benefits in each applicable plan.
The new Emergis e-Premiums service allows insurance companies to generate and present their corporate customers with an electronic premium statement derived from a current enrollment database which ensures the statement reflects statutory and other changes made by the customer to its members’ profile coverage. The electronic statement also facilitates the electronic payment of the consolidated monthly premium. To illustrate, corporate group plan customers pay premiums every month for employee benefits; the consolidated monthly premium varies as new employees sign-up for coverage, existing employees request changes to their coverage or departing employees lose coverage, for example. Through this new service, the statement can reflect the up-to-date changes employers have made electronically to their employee demographic database.
