Our CEO, Anthony Pizzino, offers Association updates and shares his thoughts on what’s to come in a letter to members.
As we approach the end of 2022, I’d like to share some thoughts from the CEO’s chair on our strengths as an organization and how I hope to leverage those strengths to do even more for our members and for seniors in general in the years to come.
As an association, we have robust membership numbers — nearly 170,000 members at last count — and we are coming through COVID having weathered the downturns surprisingly well. It’s a testament to the work we do. You, our faithful members, know we are an important voice of retirees, particularly when it comes to communicating with the federal government, and we have proven time and time again that the government listens when we speak.
A case in point is 2022’s successful renewal of the Public Service Health Care Plan (PSHCP). Our top-notch professional staff members, together with elected Association representatives, negotiated hard on your behalf to bring about the best plan they could and there are many improvements, all of them in areas members specifically noted in our comprehensive pre-negotiation membership surveys on the renewal.
You named vision care, the elimination of barriers for more members to access physiotherapy and massage therapy, better paramedical and hearing aid coverage, improvements to hospital coverage and emergency travel benefit enhancements. Our team delivered on all of the above. The new plan will take effect on July 1, 2023, when Canada Life takes over from Sun Life as the plan administrator. It will have a $400 vision care benefit every two years, up from $275. The yearly amounts for massage, osteopathy, naturopathy and chiropodist/podiatrists have increased from $300 to $500. Hearing aid coverage has increased from $1,000 to $1,500 every five years, with a new $200 yearly battery benefit, to name just a few. And for those who think they may be adversely affected, our team is discussing opportunities for exemptions with Treasury Board.
On the coattails of that successful negotiation, one of my priorities for next year will be to increase the visibility of our organization, thereby expanding our influence and reach with governments even further. We are one of the largest and most transparent seniors’ groups in the country and we will continue to advocate for the things we need as we age. We should be top of mind among public policy shapers as well as members of the media when they are considering issues and stories that affect retirees.
For now, let’s just say there’s more in store. We are looking at how we get further engagement — more help from people to be involved in our campaigns, for example. Imagine a nationwide campaign for better long-term care with the voices of nearly 170,000 Canadian retirees behind it. I also believe we can continue to grow that membership and amplify our voices even more.
If you’re excited about these priorities, tell a friend about the Association, take part in our Mega Recruitment Drive and sign them up, in turn making yourself eligible for some of the campaign’s many attractive prizes.
As we turn a page on our calendars, stay tuned. There will be more news to come in terms of the work we’re doing to increase visibility of the organization.