By Pankaj Babbar, licensed advisor at SAI Insurances · 3 min read
1-minute read
The short answer
- When you leave a job, your group health and dental benefits usually end soon after — often on your last day or at month-end.
- Some group plans offer a conversion option to an individual plan without health questions — but only if you apply within a short deadline.
- Guaranteed-issue plans accept you without medical questions, but often with lower limits or exclusions.
- Medically underwritten plans ask health questions and can offer broader coverage if you qualify.
- Apply before your group coverage ends, so there's no gap.
Detailed guide · 2 min read
Why this catches people off guard
Provincial health plans cover doctor visits and hospital care, but not most prescriptions, dental work, vision care, physiotherapy or paramedical services. Group benefits through work often fill that gap — so when a job ends, through a layoff, a career change, retirement or going self-employed, those costs can suddenly land on you.
Step one: find out when your coverage ends
Ask HR or read your benefits booklet for the exact end date and whether any coverage continues for a period after you leave. Write the date down — every option below depends on it.
Option 1: a conversion plan
Some group plans let departing employees move to an individual plan without answering health questions. That can be valuable if you have a medical condition. The catch is the deadline — often a short window after coverage ends — and the converted plan may have different benefits or cost than the group plan.
Option 2: a guaranteed-issue individual plan
Several insurers offer plans you can get without a medical questionnaire, as long as you apply within a set time after group coverage ends or meet other conditions. They're a safety net for people with health issues, though limits are often lower and pre-existing conditions may be excluded or capped.
Option 3: a medically underwritten plan
If you're in good health, a plan with health questions can offer broader coverage or better value. You answer a questionnaire, the insurer reviews it, and you're approved, approved with exclusions, or declined. Applying before your group coverage ends means a decline doesn't leave you without a fallback.
Going self-employed?
Self-employed people often look beyond health and dental too, because there's no employer coverage for income or illness. See critical illness vs. disability insurance. Business owners with staff can also look at group benefits for their own team.
How we help
Send us your benefits end date and what you use most — prescriptions, dental, vision. We'll compare health and dental plans across insurers and help you apply before the deadline, in English, Hindi or Punjabi.
This article is general information, not insurance advice. Conversion rights, deadlines, eligibility, coverage limits and exclusions vary by group plan and insurer — check your benefits booklet or HR, and your licensed advisor will compare the individual plans available to you.