We are pleased to announce that Equitable Life and McMaster have resolved the outstanding dental premiums owed by the university, and as a result Equitable Life has lifted the suspension of the payment of dental claims. This means that any claims submitted to Equitable going forward, or that were submitted over the past few days, should be paid in full in a normal time period.
After filing a grievance yesterday morning and meeting with both McMaster and Equitable Life in the afternoon, a solution was reached which saw McMaster advance a sizeable portion of the alleged dental premiums owing to Equitable Life, allowing Equitable to have the required funds to continue to pay claims. This also gave us the confidence to withdraw the grievances filed against McMaster.
The University is also reviewing its internal reporting and remittance protocols to ensure that a similar situation does not occur again, and we will continue to monitor this in conjunction with Equitable Life.
We are acutely aware of the stress that this caused many of you, but are pleased that it was resolved in less than 24 hours.