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Canada’s only national not-for-profit insurer continues to innovate with revolutionary digital health and benefits ecosystem, ���װ�ʿ+

TORONTO, ONTARIO - April 12, 2023 – 60 per cent of Canadians wish they could access all healthcare services they need in one place. 61 per cent wish they didn’t have to re-explain their conditions every time they talk to a new healthcare practitioner. As Canadians work to navigate our current health care system, they don’t realize that their benefits provider could be at the forefront of an enhanced experience that seamlessly integrates a variety of digital health solutions with each other and their benefits plan. Until now. ���װ�ʿ announced today it is launching a first-of-its-kind digital health and benefits ecosystem, ���װ�ʿ+, that will be available later this year.

Imagine this: You wake up in the morning, sweating. Head pounding, heart racing, not well enough to go to work. You roll over, grab your phone, and open your app. You connect with a doctor who addresses you by name. To alleviate your discomfort, she prescribes medication and the app’s pharmacy delivers it to your front door. A pharmacist is available to answer your questions. After addressing immediate pain relief, the doctor identifies the root cause of your symptoms as stress related. The app matches you to a therapist, and there’s no need to repeat your story because it’s already in the system. The therapist shares coping mechanisms and refers you to an online cognitive behavioural therapy program you can access from the app whenever you want, to build resilience. You go back to bed knowing the app is fully integrated with your benefits plan so there’s no paperwork, and you are automatically reimbursed for all sources of funding your plan provides. It’s a health care experience built around your needs.

The ���װ�ʿ+ app will offer streamlined, connected care and reimbursement by integrating the company’s health services and benefits plans. Powered by Google Cloud and Microsoft technologies, ���װ�ʿ+ is establishing a new standard of care, backed by ���װ�ʿ’s 65 years of expertise in insurance and industry leading health services.

���װ�ʿ, the country’s only national not-for-profit insurer, is also the only payer-provider in Canada. As a ‘payer’, ���װ�ʿ has a long history of offering insurance, administering benefits, and paying claims; and now, as a ‘provider’, ���װ�ʿ also delivers a variety of healthcare services such as mental health, telemedicine and pharmacy. Integrating both sides of the payer-provider equation enables ���װ�ʿ to simplify access to care, remove administrative barriers, and improve health outcomes for its customers.

“As a not-for-profit social enterprise focused on championing better health for all, helping to improve access to healthcare for all is rooted in ���װ�ʿ’s DNA. As Canadians’ needs have evolved, we have continued to innovate, evolving our offerings and services to deliver on our social mission,”

says President & CEO, Zahid Salman. “We know Canadians want to take control of their health, but face challenges accessing and navigating the health system. Canadians are looking for access, convenience, better integration, and improved health outcomes.”

How ���װ�ʿ+ will simplify the healthcare journey

���װ�ʿ+ will provide access to ���װ�ʿ’s digital health and benefits offerings in one place, delivering a personalized, engaging, and simplified experience. Through unprecedented levels of integration and services that increasingly talk to each other, users can check their coverage, access their benefits, connect with healthcare providers, and get reimbursed for their claims all in one, easy-to-use place, accessible anytime, anywhere. This will bridge the typical gaps between payers and providers, giving Canadians timely access to the quality care they need, with effortless processing and payment of benefits claims. It will enable:

• Better Access: Connect easily with thousands of health professionals without long wait times.
• Better Convenience: Leverage services anytime, anywhere with effortless digital capabilities and seamless reimbursement of your benefits claims.
• Better Integration: Stop repeating your story. Personalized care and easier navigation with services that increasingly talk to each other and to your benefits plan.
• Better Health Outcomes: Leverage data-driven insights to take charge of your health and improve your quality of life.

���װ�ʿ Cares about better health for all

While these monumental strides are paving the way, ���װ�ʿ’s purpose of championing better health for all is inclusive, as it recognizes that many Canadians face barriers to accessing care. Through its social impact brand ���װ�ʿ Cares, the company reinvests its earnings and self-funds the deployment of its wholly-owned health services to support underserved and marginalized communities.��

“As a not-for-profit social enterprise, ���װ�ʿ approaches universal access to healthcare through an altruistic lens,” says Salman. “Our goal is to invest $75M to improve the lives of at least one million Canadians by 2025.”

This goal will be achieved through initiatives like ���װ�ʿ Cares’ (offering free mental health services to women) and Oral Health (funding research about the importance and impact of oral health on overall health, and on delivering dental care to the working poor). In just over a year, the company has already helped nearly 60,000 women access free mental health services, and it has helped over 35,000 underserved Canadians access free dental care.

A new look to reflect a new vision

As part of its evolution, the industry’s noble challenger is also unveiling new branding. Under the overarching ���װ�ʿ enterprise brand, there are now three lines of business: ���װ�ʿ Insurance, ���װ�ʿ Administration and ���װ�ʿ Health, working together to integrate ���װ�ʿ’s payer-provider offerings based on the unique needs of each member.

“The rebrand is about far more than an iconic new logo,” says Mandy Mail, SVP Marketing & Communications, ���װ�ʿ. “We have completed eight acquisitions in two years to strengthen our offering. The new branding visually unites our services and is reflective of the innovative, tech-forward integrated payer-provider ���װ�ʿ has become."

For media inquiries:

Jillian Starkie | jillian@headsandtales.ca | (905) 449-5068

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About ���װ�ʿ

���װ�ʿ is an integrated health services organization and the first organization in Canada to operate as a payer-provider - offering insurance, administering benefits, and paying claims as a ‘payer’, while offering medical, mental health and pharmacy services as a ‘provider’. This model allows ���װ�ʿ to build care around Canadians, simplify their health care experience, and improve health outcomes.

���װ�ʿ is uniquely structured as a not-for-profit social enterprise. The company reinvests its earnings and redeploys its services to underserved Canadian communities via its social impact brand, ���װ�ʿ Cares, with a focus on positively impacting at least one million Canadians by 2025. As the industry’s noble challenger ���װ�ʿ continues to innovate, evolving its offerings and services to deepen its purpose of championing Better Health for All.

���װ�ʿ means, collectively, Green Shield Canada (GSC), Green Shield Association, and Green Shield Holdings Inc., which is the primary company that houses health services and benefits administration businesses, including Inkblot Therapy, Tranquility, BCH Consultants, NKS Health Canada, The Health Depot Pharmacy, Benecaid, and Computer Workware Inc. Green Shield Holdings Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of the not-for-profit Green Shield Association.

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