Administrative change to long-term disability under the Public Service Management Insurance Plan
Background
The PSMIP is a mandatory LTD plan and optional life insurance plan for eligible federal public service executives and employees who are unrepresented or excluded from collective bargaining, including certain designated groups.
Employees can apply for LTD when their illness or disability is expected to be prolonged beyond the 13-week elimination period, or they have exhausted their sick leave balance, whichever comes later.
What has changed
Prior to this change, to complete a disability benefits application, the employee’s attending physician had to complete one of three Attending Physician Questionnaires (Musculoskeletal, Mental Health, Other Medical Conditions). To help reduce the administrative burden for attending physicians, the three questionnaires have been replaced by a single universal industry form.
This change was led by the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association and is being applied across the disability industry.
Members and attending physicians can access and download the new form by visiting Industrial Alliance’s PSMIP-LTD website.
If a claim is submitted using one of the three previous questionnaires, Industrial Alliance will accept it, and the claim will still be assessed.
There are no changes to the Employee, Immediate Manager/Supervisor and Compensation Advisor forms. They are all still required to support the claim for disability benefits.
Reminder on how to submit a long-term disability claim
Before submitting a claim for LTD, make sure you are applying to the correct insurance plan to avoid any delays in accessing your benefits. You can verify if you are a member of the PSMIP-LTD by logging into MyGCPay or contacting the Pay Centre or your departmental compensation office.
For details on how to submit a claim for LTD, please consult Industrial Alliance’s Checklist.
Contact information
Chiefs of Compensation at the corporate level may contact the Employee Relations and Total Compensation Sector.
Should plan members or attending physicians have any questions or concerns about the LTD claim, please contact Industrial Alliance at 1‑800‑830‑1255.