Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services (CFMWS) - Medical
Video / August 1, 2024
Transcript
Thank you and good day everyone. On behalf of Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services, I'm happy to be here as the representative of Military Family Services. My name is Angela and I would like to introduce my colleagues that will join our presentation today. My name is Jamie Theriault. I'm a financial planner at SISIP Financial and I'm Keely Cliche and I help with the insurance needs at SISIP Financial. I am really pleased to be here today to talk about an important time in you and your family's life, whether you're transitioning from active military service to civilian life or perhaps transitioning from regular to the reserve force. We understand the feeling of uncertainty that may come with change, but we want you to know that we are here to support you in this next phase of your journey.
Today we will provide you with an overview of the programs and services available to you through CFMWS and with an in-depth focus on our Military Family Services and SISIP Financial divisions and how they can benefit you. So, about CFMWS, we're a purpose-built social enterprise. That means that we earn profits through some of our business lines and activities like CANEX, SISIP Financial and PSP recreation and leisure. We reinvest these profits into programs and services to benefit CAF members, veterans and their families. We also strengthen our members, so they are ready to serve. We enable their financial well-being, we support military families, and we provide opportunities for social connection, leisure and adventure.
If you haven't done so yet, I encourage you to become a CF 1 member today. Our members get exclusive discounts and savings, earn rewards, and most importantly, save money. Please feel free to scan the QR code on the screen and to sign up. Through CF 1 membership. You have access to our exclusive deals through our affinity partners like BMO, the Official Bank of the Canadian Armed Forces, the Personal Insurance as well as CANEX Home Heating. Please visit the CF1 website for more information and details of the benefits available to you through membership.
As you might already know, CANEX is a Canada military store and continues to be available to you at locations across Canada and online 24/7 at the website canex.ca. Enjoy exclusive benefits and added value through the CANEX CF1 No Interest Credit plan, CANEX Price Match Guarantee, members only pricing and CANEX CF1 rewards and more.
Strengthening the culture of fitness in the CAF is a priority. Personnel Support Programs (PSP) include fitness, sports, recreation and health promotion which play integral roles in this endeavor. We are here to help you, and your family maintain an active life and stay connected to your community. Whether it's choosing our CAF Fitness virtual training, discovering a new hobby with one of our classes and workshops, or volunteering with CFMWS, PSP offers a variety of programs and services for everyone.
Soldier On is a program of the Canadian Armed Forces Transition Group (CAF TG), which contributes to the recovery of ill and injured CAF members and veterans by providing opportunities and resources through sports, recreational and creative activities. Generous Canadians support the program through donation and fundraising to the Soldier On Fund, which is managed by Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services. They provide members with a safe environment to challenge themselves and become inspired in ways that they may not have thought possible, contributing to and providing a getaway to enhance one's well-being. This reintroduction to an active lifestyle provides opportunities to develop new skills, build confidence and meet peers with similar challenges.
At MFS, we provide support to all military families in Canada and abroad. We do this through both local and national services, the major elements that you can see on the screen.
In this presentation, we'll start by showing you a few of the ways that we can help you and your loved ones both before and after releasing from the forces. We'll show you where you can access these supports from transition centers to MFRCs to the Family Information Line, which is here for you and your loved ones 24/7, 365 days a year.
MFS is a steward for specific services for military and veteran families and are responsible for ensuring that they are aware of services available to them and can advocate to their needs relating to the military lifestyle. Research demonstrates that 82% of military spouses are successfully meeting the challenges of military life. Therefore, the Military and Veteran Family Services consists of three levels of service.
So, as you can see on the screen, level 1 is for information awareness for the universal general information. So, the population accessing these services are healthy, have low level of need, and provide self-service information. For the level 2 services are navigational services targeted to address specific challenges and tailored health. So, these can also be group services such as workshops, peer support groups, or navigational support on internal and external community resources. For the Level 3 services, they are more like an intervention, individualized and complex support. Typically, individuals require intensive assistance or have multiple unmet needs which can yield medium to high risk. So, by offering various levels of support, the MVFSP has services for any family regardless of where they are on their military journey.
As you can see on the screen here are many of the resources available to you and your family leading up to your release as well as following your release to support the military to civilian transition. So, the first one is the financial support, specifically access to grants, scholarships, and loans available through Support Our Troops. There's also spousal employment opportunities through local employment support, the military spousal employment network, as well as career joy employment counseling.
Let's not forget the Emergency Family Care assistance to reimburse families when family care plans fail, establish local connection through SISIP Financial and also local MFRC services and community partners.
So another way that we support families is via mental health support. So, we offer mental health support at the various levels. There's the Veteran Family Program Coordinators that provide transition related information and referrals, tailored, standardized and navigational support is provided by Family Transition Advisors. They assist families in establishing family transition plans and connect them with resources to support them through their military to civilian transition, such as relevant workshops, peer support groups, employment opportunities, referrals for guidance, and also tutoring for children.
There's also the CAF Kids Crisis Text Line for youth and kids. Social support exists both locally and nationally through in person and virtual peer support sessions. Second language training is available as self-directed or in class at local MFRCS. Family connection events and volunteer opportunities exist both locally and nationally on virtual platforms. So lastly, in terms of physical support, MFS offers telemedicine access to families relocating and unable to access family physicians.
MFS also has a close partnership with Calian for the military Family Doctor network in order to continue to advocate for military families to get better access to healthcare. So specifically for those navigating these medical release stream, the Veteran Family Telemedicine Services pilot supports veterans and their families receive virtual health care while they try to navigate local healthcare realities. As always, MFS relies on fostering connection with partners to ensure support is available for families, such as referrals to PSP recreational programming and assisting families navigating housing concerns.
In 2018, Veterans Affairs rolled out the Veteran Family Program for medically releasing members, medically released veterans and their families in order to support a transition to civilian lifestyle. The program extends access to the existing services stewarded by MFS and delivered by MFRCs. There are also dedicated Veteran Family Program Coordinators at each base and wing who can assist in gathering information and referrals to support transition. The VFPCs also provide access to the National tailored programming which is offered. These programs and services are the Veteran Family Journal, Mental Health First Aid for the Veteran community and COPE couples overcoming PTSD everyday and spousal resiliency programming.
In January 2022, VAC and MFS launched a Veteran Family Telemedicine Service pilot, which provides access to online doctor visits to medically released veterans and their families living in Canada. Registered members can talk to a Canadian licensed Dr. online in minutes. Again, it's 24/7 and 365 days a year, so the program allows for one year access while veterans and their family get established with Primary Health care. The service is fully bilingual and allows for prescription service, medical notes, lab imaging requisitions and specialist referrals. Veterans and families have up to one year post release to register for the service, at which time their full year access will commence. VAC and MFS are working on extending and exploring expansion of the program to help address the unmet healthcare needs of our veterans and their families.
The Family Transition Center team supports families of CAF members who are transitioning from military to civilian life, ill or injured, and families of the fallen. So, there's the Family Liaison Officers, Family Counselors, Family Transition Advisors, and also Veteran Family Program Coordinators. This framework is a multi dimensional concept that contributes to an individual's overall well-being. These determinants are interconnected and can influence each other.
This holistic approach to well-being is what the Family Transition Advisors (FTAs) use when considering factors to promote a balanced life for families as they determine their strength and needs in each of these areas. This will allow the FTAs to provide personalized and targeted support, resources and referrals to services that meet their individual unique needs and help them develop effective coping strategies to adapt to their new circumstances.
As you can see on the screen, there's 8 domains of family resiliency. It's a framework used to assess and promote the resiliency of families in various contexts. These domains highlight different aspects of family functioning and well-being that contribute to the family's overall resiliency. So, this information helps establish a baseline so the family can create a family transition plan to help support a seamless experience.
This is an overarching graphic that captures what we do at a virtual MFRC. So, what is the virtual MFRC exactly? It's a virtual service which is intended to provide services to families when and where they're needed. The Family Information Line is part of the virtual MFRC. It's staffed by counselors who provide information, referral, and psycho emotional support. The FIL is confidential, personal, bilingual and free. We offer support, referrals, reassurance and crisis management to the military community. We serve CAF members, veterans and their families, both immediate and extended.
Here you can see the virtual MFRC represented as a virtual hub on this graphic. The various services we provide access to are divided into the four domains of Wellness in the CFMWS strategy. So, there's financial, mental, social, and physical. You can see that we provide direct access to a variety of programs and services, as well as connection to many other services through referrals, information, and warm transfers. It can be challenging to navigate the various supports, so we encourage you to give us a call at the Family Information Line. We can work together to figure out what are the most useful supports for you based on your current situation.
MFRCs are key enablers for the delivery of services to military and veteran families. The majority of MFRCs are not-for-profit, provincially incorporated organization governed by a Board of Directors composed of 51% military family members. MFS, as a steward of specific services for military and veteran families overseas governance, financial resources and programming direction for the MFRCs to deliver the national programs. Locally MFRCs also work with the Base and Wing Command teams to offer services based on community needs, meaning licensed childcare and enhanced mental health support and also employment support in collaboration with their province or territory. MFRCs can receive donations and supplement site specific programming and services outside of the public funds they receive for delivery of the MVFSP. Therefore, services are often extended to veterans and families, especially to those who have not medically released.
MFRCs are key partners in working with the community and national stakeholders to provide wrap around support to enhance family health and well-being throughout collective impact. Here's a few examples of those collaborations. There's the Helping Hand committees, the Family Violence Awareness teams, advocating for families provincially and federally. MFS continues to develop and modernize services for families to ensure they are aware of what is available to support them throughout the various stages of their military journey. Whether through MFS directly, MFRCs, or the virtual MFRC, we work to ensure that if we cannot provide a support, we will work with our partners to find a suitable provider in that area of your need.
So good luck with your military to civilian transition. Whatever the next chapter looks like, we hope that our services will be beneficial to you. And now I'll let my colleague Jamie take the floor.
Thank you. Releasing from the CAF does come with a number of financial implications and a lot of it has to do with where you are in your financial journey. Someone who just started with the CAF, someone who is buying a house, getting married, having children, planning for their estate and SISIP Financial is there to guide you every step along the way.
SISIP Financial as well, the thing to know about us is that we are not commissioned. We are salaried. So, any advice that we give you along the way really is with the best intentions of helping you. And it could be your family as well, your spouse and your children. It's not just military members.
So, questions that we hear often from medically releasing members are things like when am I entitled to immediate pension, LTD and VAC income sources, severance pay, accumulated leave, tax implications, tax advice that can be especially important when you're having multiple sources of income. Investing, what should I do with the money that I'm receiving? Should I put it into an RRSP, TFSA, RESP saving for the education of my children? Also, insurance is something we can give you guidance on. Do I have the right amount of coverage for me and my family? So, these are all things that we are well equipped to give you advice on and guide you along the way.
SISIP financial counsellors can assist you with things like budget management, spending credit, debt management if you do have debts, things like that, emergency financial assistance if that's something that you need from Support our Troops, free financial tools, tips and tricks. SISIP Financial counsellors are available while you are in the military. Once you release, it's through VAC that would help any released families with any of these things.
So financial advice does help you make informed decisions and understand why you're making that decision so that you have the money that can help you reach your goals and make it a reality. The first step that we do is what's called a discovery meeting and that's something where we learn what are your goals over the next couple of years, over the next 10 years? What are you currently saving, investing? Where are you currently at? Is it enough to meet your goals? Are you minimizing taxes, things like that. Is there any opportunities that we can help guide you along? Do you have the right information to make the right pension decisions, which is a very important decision. Things like that. Do you have the right amount of insurance coverage. So once again, I encourage you to speak with a SISIP advisor to, to guide you with these things.
When you receive a pension, depending on how many years of service you have, it could be something where you're entitled to either an immediate pension, a deferred pension, what's called a transfer value of your pension, which is a big lump sum, or doing a buyback of your pension. This is something that's a very, very important thing to understand what you're doing because a pension is a very important part of your retirement, especially someone who's considering taking a transfer value. There's a lot of tax implications that you need to be aware of. So, it's really making an informed decision when you make a choice. And what's the best choice for me and my family.
If you're entitled to a severance pay, Severance pay is 7 days of every year you get paid out to you for eligible service, complete and partial service. And it's something where you can receive a maximum lifetime of 30 years. And when you do receive a severance, if you're entitled to that, you have choices of do I take it out immediately? Do I cash it out? Do I take it the following calendar year? And by putting into an RRSP, do I have enough RRSP room? There's something called the eligible amount if you have years of service before 1996. So, there are some things to really understand about severance and what's the best decision for you.
So once again, something we can help you with. If you are receiving your bridge benefit, if you're getting your pension right away and you're getting what's called a bridge benefit, bridge benefit, you get it up until the age of 65. What's very important though, is that if you are getting a bridge benefit and you're also getting the CPP or QPP disability, it's very, very important that you tell the pension center that you are getting a disability payment because you're no longer entitled to the bridge benefit and they would ask you to repay it if you're getting both at the same time. So, it's very, very important to let them know that you're receiving that. For government benefits there's the Canada Pension Plan and the QPP Quebec Pension Plan. That's just based on where you live when you start to receive it. For these things, you can apply as early as 59 years and one month and you can receive it at any age between the ages of 60 up until the age of 70. This is based on what you've contributed to it during your working career. And this is something where the longer that you wait to take it, the more of a benefit that you get.
So, if you were to wait till the age of 70 versus taking it early at the age of 60, you would get a bigger benefit for the rest of your life. So, this is something as well as someone who's planning on taking it early, this is something I would strongly recommend talking to a SISIP advisor because it can have a huge impact on your retirement, your timing of taking this and we can come up with a plan to help you. When is the best time for you to take it for you and your family for your retirement.
Old Age Security is another form of benefit from the Canadian government, OAS. So, OAS is something that's based on Canadian residency. To get the maximum amount, you have to have been a Canadian resident for 40 years, after the age of 18. The earliest you can take OAS is as of the age of 65. But if you were to wait up until the age of 70, the longer you wait, the more that you get.
And this is also something where it can have a huge impact on your retirement. So once again, the timing of taking this, strongly recommend speaking with an advisor to help make a plan for you and help guide you with that.
Taxes, so we can help find ways to help you defer taxes, deduct taxes, divide income splitting. If you have a spouse and you're receiving a pension, there's ways you can income split your pension with your spouse. So, these are once again things that we can integrate into a financial plan to help you with and tax credits, where is there opportunities that we can help you find tax savings and things like that.
So, in this example, we have Major Salma Abbas, who after 14 years is medically releasing. Salary at release is 132,000. And her goal is to upgrade her skills, and she wants to be working in a new career in about 18 months from now. She's worried about tax implications over the next few years and whether her pension income will be enough to supplement her retirement. So, she's entitled to immediate pension of $37,000 a year. She'll be getting Ltd for $62,000 a year, vocational rehab for $20,000 a year and a VAC Level 3 for pain and suffering $600 a month amount as well, as well as a severance of $35,000 that she'll be receiving. So, the plan would be no part time job while she's training for her second career, she will have sufficient income while training and once working and then open up an RRSP right away to start to save for retirement and to save for taxes.
In this example we have MS Derek Wilson who was considering a second career when he was injured and his salary at release is $78,000 and his goal is to be working in nine months.
He will participate in vocational rehabilitation, and he does not qualify for an immediate pension. So he's wondering what the best option is for him, as well as when he should start saving for his young children's future education. So, his income will be LTD $58,000 a year, a VAC top up of $12,000 a year and severance of $7000. So, his plan, no part time job while he's training for a second career. When he does begin his second career there could be tax bills. So, saving for that now would be a good strategy. Also to complete a financial projection with an advisor once his new job is secured to really understand when he can start saving for an RESP for his children's education, how much he would be able to put aside and also to determine at that point which pension option would be best suited for him. He has one year after he releases to make that decision, so he doesn't have to rush, but he has a one year timeframe.
And to talk about insurance is my colleague Keely over here. Thank you.
Thank you, Jamie, that was a great presentation on financial advice. Insurance is one of the pillars in your financial plan that we're also going to take a look at today. It is something people buy to protect themselves and their family from losses. You can insure pretty much anything these days. The most commonly insured items are your home, car, health and life. SISIP Financial specializes in health and life insurance.
Did you know that nearly 70% of our CAF members have health and/or life insurance with SISIP Financial? It's easy to see why. We provide life insurance with no exclusions for war nor high risk activities. Think of skydiving or motor cross activities. All covered by SISIP Financial but maybe not covered by other providers. Our prices are hard to beat, and we have less rigorous medical underwriting requirements, meaning that we understand what the CAF goes through on a daily basis and our medical is a little more lax than the normal. The average available coverage for veterans and dependents is up to $1.2 million.
Finally, helping members determine how much coverage they need using our insurance needs analysis and implementing that coverage is a core part of how we serve our CAF members, veterans, and families. Remember, everyone's insurance needs are different, and the solution should be tailored to you and your family.
A little more about the types of insurance you can get with SISIP and the benefits. The large majority of you have OGTI which is optional group term life insurance with SISIP, and we have this offer for releasing members. You can convert your OGTI term life insurance to IRM, which is insurance for release members or RTIP, which is reserve force term insurance with no need for medical examinations if you convert within 60 days of your release. You can retain the exact same coverage you have now, no exclusion for dangerous occupations, hobbies, sports, and the same maximum coverage. If you don't have term life insurance with us, it's not too late to start. You can sign up now while you are a CAF member or sign up anytime after release and you and your spouse and partner is eligible for SISIP financial coverage as well.
You can access the application forms on our website and for those of you who currently have coverage, we will contact you upon release to remind you to transfer your coverage within 60 days. We are very accessible with our website forms to be filled out, but we do like to visit and see you so feel free to drop by our office at any time.
Term life insurance means the term coverage will come to an end. While this is the most common life insurance, we also have lifetime protection available and critical illness protection. T100 Permanent life insurance provides lifetime protection for you and your family, and the coverage is available in $25,000 increments up to $100,000 benefit in amounts.
The easiest way to think of it is term insurance the OGTI is like renting a policy that will stay in force until age 75 when we transfer and look at T100, which is your permanent life. That is something you own. You own that policy until you either pass away or cancel it yourself. That is your policy to determine what the need is. You can apply anytime between the ages of 18 and 70, provided you are a Canadian resident at the time of application. And for added flexibility, you can choose how you pay from the benefit of locked in premium rates or a select 20 pay for lifetime coverage without lifetime payments.
Finally, the critical illness insurance is insurance that pays out a tax-free lump sum benefit when you were diagnosed with a covered illness. Adults are covered for 25 life changing illnesses and children are covered for six children's specific conditions plus the 22 covered adult conditions. We also have a special offering for released members, a guaranteed acceptance for critical illness coverage.
So, what does that mean? It means no medical question, acceptance is guaranteed. The application must be signed and dated within 60 days of your release, and you are eligible for $25,000 or $50,000 without medically qualifying. This is incredible. You can also purchase $5,000 to $10,000 for your dependent children. The only exclusion that applies is any pre-existing conditions such as cancer, heart attack, stroke in 24 months from the date of application. If you are interested in it, it is easier to obtain critical illness coverage at release. Because there is no health questionnaire, it's not required for you to go through the long list of medical questions and declare any free medication you're taking. You just complete the application form with a representative and you're guaranteed to be accepted.
The biggest key take away from this is you must do it within 60 days of your release date. Choosing the type of insurance and how much is best for you comes down to specific financial needs and it's different for everyone. We recommend that you talk to one of our financial advisors for any insurance needs analysis and to determine exactly what type of coverage and how much is best for you.
Regardless of the type insurance you proceed with, it is key to check your current beneficiaries and make sure everything is up to date. The last thing we want is for money to go to someone you didn't intend it to go to. We have many examples where former spouses or partner is a beneficiary of a policy, which means they get the money should something happen. We also want to remind you that the supplementary death benefit coverage can be continued if you meet certain conditions. This is something SISIP knows to ask about and we will consider it during the needs analysis and any advice we can provide to ensure members aren't excessively covered and overpaying for insurance.
Insurance is one of the biggest bills in your home and we want to make sure that it is doing what it needs to do without breaking the budget. SISIP doesn't administer SDB, but it needs to be considered in the overall coverage as part of your plan.
Our parting advice: take action. Medical releasing has many considerations and financial impacts. A financial advisor is like a personal trainer. You either love them or you hate them but making a plan sooner rather than later is essential. Just as a personal trainer assesses your fitness goals, creates a tailored workout plan, and guides you to achieve physical health, a SISIP financial advisor does the same for your finances and well-being. Think of your financial goals as the fitness targets you aim to achieve. Whether it's saving for education, determining your optimal insurance coverage, or planning for retirement a SISIP financial advisor helps you identify your objectives, assess your current financial health, and creates a custom plan to reach those goals.
Like how a personal trainer adjusts your workout routine based on your progress and changes in your fitness level, a financial advisor reviews and updates your financial plan to adapt to life changes like releasing. You can scan the QR code on the screen and request a meeting with a SISIP financial advisor. And you can count on us for an unbiased advice and quality solutions that are in your best interest. We exist to serve you. We are not here to maximize profits or pay outside shareholders like other banks and financial institutions. Already working with another advisor? Come see us for a second opinion.
And of course, for everyone that likes the technology world, all of our resources are found online. You can click away into the vortex and find what you need. But don't be hesitant to give us a call or drop by our local office and say hi. We do like to see your smiling faces and hear your stories. I'd like to thank you for your time. If there's ever any questions, you know how to reach us.
Take care.