ARTA Health
Gary Sawatzky | COO and Director of Member Services, ARTA
Changes to the ARTA
Retiree Benefits Plan
It’s that time of the year again — the ARTA Retiree Benefits
Plan renewed on November 1, 2018, and, coincident with the
renewal, a number of plan design enhancements were made.
Here are each of these plan design changes in greater detail.
Addition of ARTACares TM
ARTACares TM is a new program
that provides a number of
services to ARTA members
covered by the Extended Health
Care plan. These services
include the following.
• Medical Second Opinion
provides support for a serious
illness, injury, surgery, or
chronic illness. It allows a
medical expert to review your
medical records, diagnosis,
and treatment protocols to
ensure the accuracy of your
diagnosis and treatment.
All medical information is
gathered and sent to the
expert confi dentially, at your
direction. The Medical Second
Opinion service also includes
nurse-led health care system
navigation services.
• Eldercare is available for
ARTA members and for their
immediate family members.
It provides consultation
about living situations, given
10 | arta.net
health conditions, accessing
benefi ts, seniors’ safety, legal
and fi nancial matters, and
a discount on a personal
emergency response system.
Health care system navigation
and chronic disease support
are also included with the
Eldercare benefi t.
ARTACares TM is provided by
HumanaCare, an Alberta-based
health and wellness provider
with more than thirty-fi ve
years of Canadian health care
experience.
Other Changes
The maximum coverage for
hearing aids has been raised by
$200. The maximum benefi t
for members covered under
either Health Wise or Total
Health increases from $700 to
$900 every thirty-six months,
while the benefi t for members
covered under the Health
Wise Plus or Ultimate Health
plans increases from $900 to
$1,100 every thirty-six months.
Hearing aid batteries are also
covered under this benefi t, as
are hearing aid repairs.
Coverage for rental or
purchase of nebulizers has
been added, to a maximum
of $150 every fi ve years,
including device accessories and
repairs. Nebulizers are used to
administer medication in the
form of a vapor inhaled directly
into the lungs.
The Enhanced Special
Authorization (ESA) process
used for certain specialty
and biologic medications
(introduced January 1, 2017)
has been expanded to include
two additional health conditions
— ankylosing spondylitis
and psoriatic arthritis. These
health conditions were added
to the ESA process because
the specialty medications used
to treat them (called tumour
necrosis factor alpha inhibitors,
such as Humira, Enbrel, and