• Milestone dates to note for successful 1/1/24 effective dates - Read more
• Sun Life Onboard is expanding to support more Clients - Read more
• Sun Life for Physicians and Healthcare Professionals - Read more
• Innovation in Disability webinar recording available – Watch now

What we shared with Clients and is also important for you:

• Third Quarter Compliance News available for download – Download now
• What's new: Partnerships and Sun Life Link connections - Read more
• New dental plan option that helps reduce out-of-pocket costs and maintain preventive care - Read more
• Recording now available: The impact of Long COVID on the nervous system – Watch now
• Breast cancer and mental health – Read our whitepaper
• Family focus: Expanding automatic payment for Supplemental Health maternity benefits - Read more
• Statutory and Paid Family and Medical Leave updates - Read more
• 2023 Updates on Leave and Accommodation Laws webinar recording available – Watch now

Top articles for producer partners!

Milestone dates to note for successful 1/1/24 effective dates

When you recommend and your Client chooses Sun Life, we jointly share in the responsibility of having them implemented and ready to go on their effective date.

3 easy tips to help your Clients with a smooth and timely Sun Life implementation on 1/1/24:

• Take advantage of Sun Life Onboard, our standard for most Clients, allowing for faster and easier implementation
• By 12/15/23 (Friday) - ensure all implementation requirements are complete and submitted through Sun Life Onboard
• By 12/21/23 (Thursday) - finalize and submit enrollment data through Sun Life Onboard

By following these three simple tips, we can provide a smooth and timely implementation experience. This means your Client and their employees will be happy...and so will you!

Sun Life Onboard is expanding to support more Clients

Sun Life’s Client onboarding experience combines easy-to-use digital tools with the expertise of our Implementation Consultants, making it faster and easier to set up benefits. As of October 24, Clients adding new coverages to their existing benefit offering will now be able to take advantage of Sun Life Onboard, in addition to new Clients setting up their initial benefits.¹ Check out a demo of Sun Life Onboard!

¹Sun Life Onboard is available to all Clients with under 2,000 employees. Not available for Absence.

Sun Life for Physicians and Healthcare Professionals

• Choice of competitively priced Premium and new lower cost Preferred Long-Term Disability plans
• Full product suite available now including Absence Management, PFML, Dental/Vision and Supplemental Health
• Healthcare Professional-specific Underwriting, Account Management and Claims – all performed by the experts at Sun Life
• Modern, digital experiences that make benefits easier

Innovation in Disability webinar recording available

You can now access the recorded session to delve into discussions featuring Sun Life’s AVP of Product Management, Sheila Sokolski, and other industry experts, on advanced solutions to navigate the challenges surrounding disability in healthcare. Sheila had the opportunity to discuss some powerful case studies of success utilizing clinical interventions for our Sun Life members in this webinar sponsored by Goodpath.

The below articles have been shared with Clients. We encourage you to read the articles to stay up to date with Sun Life’s offerings and insights.

Third Quarter Compliance News available for download

Download Sun Life’s COMPLIANCE NEWS authored by Sun Life Assistant Vice President & Senior Counsel, Marjory Robertson, JD, and Senior Counsel, Abigail O’Connell, JD.

Included in the Third Quarter 2023 Newsletter:

• Federal Leave and Accommodation Activity
• The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PFWA) draft regulations published
• New and Amended Unpaid Leave and Accommodation Laws
• IL Child Bereavement, Donor Leave expanded, and VESSA Updated
• Developments in Paid Leave Law – DE, CT, MA, ME, NJ, NY, OR, TX, WA

What's new: Partnerships and Sun Life Link connections

• Self-Bill API with Workday
• A fast and secure way to make payments.
• Absence API with Workday
• Create and update leave, intermittent leave, leave consolidation and return to work.
• Plan Setup API with ADP Workforce Now – for Dental, Vision, Life and Disability
• Eliminates manual and complex set up of benefit plans in ADP Workforce Now.

For more information on Sun Life Link and our HR platform partners visit Sunlife.com/sunlifelink.

New dental plan option that helps reduce out-of-pocket costs and maintain preventive care

Our innovative Preventive Rewards option rewards employees for getting annual preventive care while providing additional maximum dollars for future years when they might need additional services¹. And don’t worry if the current plan has a maximum rollover account, those dollars won’t be lost. We can easily transfer current account values over to the new plan².
Check out our Preventive Rewards calculator to see how easily benefits add up with this plan option.

Recording now available: The impact of Long COVID on the nervous system

On October 12th Dr. Miles Varn, Sun Life’s Chief Medical Officer and Head of PinnacleCare, was joined by neurologist, Dr. Igor Koralnik of Northwestern Medicine to discuss the intricate relationship between COVID-19 and the human nervous system. Dr. Koralnik’s pioneering research in the field has shed light on the neurological complications of COVID-19, as well as invaluable insights on how to best manage them. With Long COVID occurring in about one-third of patients, we expect the impact of it to continue for both members and their employers. Staying up-to-date and informed on the topic can you be prepared for how this may affect your employee population.

Breast cancer and mental health

October is National Breast Cancer awareness month- with the likelihood of a women in the U.S. developing breast cancer being about 13%, this is a topic that impacts many. These impacts of breast cancer, the diagnoses and treatments, are not just physical; there are significant impacts to mental and behavioral health as well. Read more about the connection between breast cancer and mental health in our white paper here.

Family focus: Expanding automatic payment for Supplemental Health maternity benefits

As a key element of our ongoing Claims integration journey, we’ve enabled a new mother’s Sun Life Short-Term Disability claim to trigger Supplemental Health Hospital Indemnity maternity benefits and pay automatically. No Hospital Indemnity-specific forms will be required thanks to these capabilities. This integration allows families to focus on their new addition rather than filing multiple claims, and provides more financial support at a very cost-intensive period of life.

Check with your Sun Life representative to learn more about our innovative claims automation capabilities.

Statutory and Paid Family and Medical Leave updates

Visit the Sun Life State Programs page for updates

The end of the year brings many updates to the statutory and PFML programs, including state rates, benefit maximums, and premium contribution limits. Bookmark the Sun Life State Programs website for up to date information on all your statutory and PFML updates

Social Security announces new Wage Cap

The Social Security Administration announced an increase to the taxable maximum beginning 1/1/24 from $160,200 to $168,600. This impacts the amount of wages subject to PFML contributions for the CT, MA, CO and most recently, OR PFML programs. Be on the lookout for updates to your Sun Life bills.

Colorado PFML scheduled to begin benefits 1/1/24

For those employers that filed for a Private Plan to administer their CO PFML program, benefits are set to begin on 1/1/24. Sun Life will begin accepting claims from our clients on 1/2/24.

PFML Private Plan Renewal Reminders

• MA PFML: Employers must renew their Sun Life self-insured and fully insured private plan exemptions through MassTaxConnect every 12 months or as otherwise directed by the Department of Family and Medical Leave (DFML). Employers who fail to renew their private plan with the Commonwealth will be put back into the state plan for MA PFML administration and the Commonwealth may assess historical premium fees or penalties. Clients with a Sun Life private plan should contact your Sun Life representative for the appropriate confirmation form(s) prior to your private plan renewal date.
• CT PFML: Employers with a CT PFML Private Plan exemption need to vote and submit a new application to the state every 3 years. The time frame begins from the exemption approval date, which is not always the policy effective date. Be on the lookout for information from the state of CT and your Sun Life team. Sun Life is prepared to assist you with information about the process, vote requirements, and the materials needed to secure your exemption.

2023 Updates on Leave and Accommodation Laws webinar recording available

Missed the latest updates on Leave Laws? The 2023 Accommodation Law Updates webinar recording is now available for you to watch. Catch up on all the essential updates from Sun Life’s legal experts, Marjory Robertson and Abigail O’Connell.

Dive into discussions on EEOC proposed regulations, the new Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), telecommuting requests, and more information on recent jury verdicts related to the FMLA and the ADA.

Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada (Wellesley Hills, Mass.) issues group policies in all states, except New York.  In New York, Sun Life and Health Insurance Company (U.S.) (Lansing, Mich.) issues group insurance policies. Product offerings may not be available in all states and may vary depending on state laws and regulations.

MPNL-1140-23Q4 #1236401871 10/23 (exp. 10/25)