A medical and dental benefit plan, like the weather, is one of those topics on which just about everybody has an opinion.

And like the August heat or February snow, extended health coverage is viewed by many people as something you can’t really change.

Either you have it or you don’t.

But Murray Malley, president and general manager of MediDirect Inc., long ago looked forward to the day when he could do something about improving benefit plans. When he joined MediDirect in July, with an impressive resumé that includes six years as CFO with STARS Air Ambulance and financial positions with other organizations, Malley knew he was with the right company – one that provides fair, affordable coverage.

Murray Malley, president of MediDirect in Calgary, says the company keeps costs down by spending less on administration than its competitors.

It’s called a cost-plus system.

As Malley explains the health-plan world, there is nothing mysterious about any of it. When employees or family members make a claim through a company plan for medical, dental or prescription costs, somebody ultimately has to pay.

That would be the boss or his employees, or everybody in a premium-sharing system.

Both MediDirect and its competitors, the traditional insurers, work within the same system.

The main difference with MediDirect is its low administrative costs and innovation of plan design.

MediDirect’s admin costs are about 10 per cent of premiums – compared with 30 to 50 per cent for competitors. Plan designs include the flexibility of coverage for part-time and contract workers.

Malley cites an example of a resource services company that switched to MediDirect after a close look at its premium costs. The company’s annual premiums were $75,000, but the claim payouts to plan members were $41,000.

The difference was going to the insurance company as administrative costs.

On top of that, only full-time employees were covered – contract employees were excluded – and the restrictions on coverage were not satisfying the employees’ needs.

“After evaluation of the company’s and employees’ needs, a MediDirect plan was set up that allowed 100% coverage of all medical and dental expenses – not only for full-time employees, but for part-time and contract employees,” Malley explains.

“The company is now paying $152,000 a year including cost-plus for three times the employees, the employees are happier because they have better coverage, the employer is happier with the cost savings – and we’re very pleased with that.”

Cost-plus, of course, means premiums to cover actual costs, plus a modest administrative fee.

OK, you might ask, why not just pay all the expenses yourself and skip the administrative fee?

The answer can be summed up in one word – taxes. Something else that people mistakenly think they can do little about.

Canada’s Income Tax Act, in fact, allows for numerous health-expense deductions as long as they go through a health-benefits plan – from hearing-aid batteries to artificial limbs – but not for an individual, except for expenses beyond the basic tax exemption.

“That’s where the tax advantage comes from,” says Malley. “So now you’ve made your medical expenses deductible from the business, and most businesses get the corporate tax-rate savings.”

MediDirect offers other advantages, too. For one thing, your company doesn’t have to be large to qualify.

“A lot of non-profit organizations, small businesses and professional corporations – doctors, lawyers, accountants – find premiums cost prohibitive for group coverage,” adds Malley. “But we can help them.

“We’re also very flexible. If it’s an owner-managed business, you can have one level of coverage for executives and up to three or four other levels for different layers of employees.”

A client can choose the services covered, and not just the traditional ones. Increasingly, doctors are recognizing naturopathic treatments, acupuncture and vitamin therapies as legitimate and effective. These can be included in a MediDirect plan.

MediDirect also deals with medium and large companies, all across Canada from Nova Scotia to British Columbia.

Many employers have surveyed their workforce and learned that employees often consider the benefits package just as important as their salary.

Buying efficient health coverage allows the boss to offer his or her employees more, which is an incentive for the best of them to stay with the company.

Malley says MediDirect intends to keep its operations lean so it can always offer a much-needed service to clients of all sizes and business interests.

“We are proud of the innovative plans we have put together for all sizes and types of organizations. In the end, we will change the benefits industry to having to provide a higher level of service and we will gain market share doing it. The clients will benefit.”

For more information, call 1-866-234-5162 toll free, or visit the website www.medidirect.ca