TYPES OF DISABILITY INSURANCE
Other Specialized Products
There are a number of specialized products available to cover specific needs.One
example is hospital stay coverage that pays you a set amount (for example $50),
for each day you are hospitalized because of an accident or sickness. Some
policies may cover only accidents. Others cover only certain illnesses (e.g.,
cancer). You can also buy special coverage to pay for funeral costs.
Veterans' Benefits
If you have a health condition linked to military service, contact Veterans Affairs
Canada (www.vac-acc.gc.ca) about their Disability Pension Program.
Foreign Coverage
You may be covered by another country's social security plan for the years you
worked there. Some plans are integrated with CPP/QPP.
Government Programs
You may know that provincial Workers' Compensation Boards (WCB) [Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) in Ontario or in Quebec,
Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CSST)] -- provide disability
benefits to sick or injured workers, but you may be surprised to learn that
Employment Insurance (EI) and the Canada/Quebec Pension Plans (CPP/
QPP) also have disability benefits. To be eligible, you must satisfy their definitions
of disability and have paid adequate premiums into their plans. They also provide
very basic coverage and have quite limiting definitions of disability. For example,
to qualify for CPP/QPP disability benefits, your condition must be deemed "severe
and prolonged."
Your employer or union can answer questions about workers' compensation
benefits. For information on EI, contact your Human Resources Department or
the federal government department, Human Resources and Skills Development
Canada (HRSDC) (www.hrsdc.gc.ca). CPP is also run by HRSDC while QPP is
run by Quebec's Régie des rentes du Québec (www.rrq.gouv.qc.ca).
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