Latest news in Health benefits

Have your say: Should Canada make more drugs available over the counter?

Have your say: Should Canada make more drugs available over the counter?

A report published last week suggested that making certain prescription medications available as over-the-counter drugs could save Canadian insurers, employers, governments and patients $1 billion…

Conference coverage: 2017 Employers Cancer Care summit

Conference coverage: 2017 Employers Cancer Care summit

What new cancer treatments are emerging that will affect the workplace and how can employers do a better job of supporting their employees with cancer?…

  • By: Staff
  • March 13, 2017 September 13, 2019
  • 11:01
The importance of including family caregivers in the cost of cancer

The importance of including family caregivers in the cost of cancer

Employers must acknowledge the role of family caregivers to get a true picture of the costs of cancer care, according to a University of Alberta…

Support to cancer patients outside hospital a ‘critical’ issue

Support to cancer patients outside hospital a ‘critical’ issue

Improvements in cancer treatments are driving patients out of hospital beds and back into their own homes. “Cancer is now a treatable, chronic disease. With…

Getting cancer drugs to patients a significant challenge

Getting cancer drugs to patients a significant challenge

Developing new drugs is only half of the job for those treating lung cancer, according to a medical oncologist. Most people know that the biology…

Get creative at cancer prevention, employers told

Get creative at cancer prevention, employers told

The old saying about an ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure works just as well when it comes to cancer care as…

Employers advised to reach out early and often to staff facing cancer crisis

Employers advised to reach out early and often to staff facing cancer crisis

Employers should reach out early and often to employees facing a cancer crisis, according to a man with first-hand experience. Asaph Benun told attendees at…

Postmedia benefits changes include closure of DB pension, EAP

Postmedia benefits changes include closure of DB pension, EAP

Postmedia Network Canada Corp. is making a number of changes to its defined benefit pension plan, its capital accumulation plans and its benefits plans, according…

Switching to over-the-counter drugs could save $1B annually: report

Switching to over-the-counter drugs could save $1B annually: report

Switching three prescription drugs classes to over-the-counter medications could save Canadians, employers, insurers and the health-care system $1 billion annually, according to a new report…

  • By: Staff
  • March 10, 2017 September 13, 2019
  • 09:30
Sounding Board: Dialogue about benefits key to preparing employees for health crises

Sounding Board: Dialogue about benefits key to preparing employees for health crises

“I had no idea.” “How can that be?” “Just doesn’t make any sense.” “But even if it keeps you alive?” These are just some of…

Physicians draft list of 125 essential drugs in Canada

Physicians draft list of 125 essential drugs in Canada

A group of Toronto physicians have drafted a list of 125 essential medicines for use in Canada, publishing their findings in the Canadian Medical Association…

  • By: Staff
  • March 3, 2017 September 13, 2019
  • 08:56
B.C. to expand drug coverage for hepatitis C patients

B.C. to expand drug coverage for hepatitis C patients

British Columbia’s Pharmacare program will expand its drug coverage for hepatitis C treatments in March as a result of successful negotiations brokered by the pan-Canadian…

  • By: Staff
  • March 1, 2017 September 13, 2019
  • 09:03
63% of chronic pain, mental-health patients prefer cannabis to opioids: study

63% of chronic pain, mental-health patients prefer cannabis to opioids: study

Patients with chronic pain and mental-health conditions prefer taking cannabis to prescribed opioid medication, a study published in the International Journal of Drug Policy has found. Researchers…

Does this genetic testing bill threaten the insurance industry?

Does this genetic testing bill threaten the insurance industry?

A genetic testing bill is winding through Parliament, keeping the Canadian insurance industry on tenterhooks. Bill S-201, the Genetic Non-Discrimination Act, seeks to revise the…

The intricacies of providing benefits in the gig economy

The intricacies of providing benefits in the gig economy

It may be fun for an architect to moonlight as a freelance photographer, but few people want a job title that’s full of slashes, whether…

31 Toronto hospital staff fired for benefits claim ‘irregularities’

31 Toronto hospital staff fired for benefits claim ‘irregularities’

Thirty-one employees at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto have been fired in relation to “irregularities in some employee health benefit claims,” spokesperson Leslie Shepherd confirmed…

York Region police officer fired for benefits fraud

York Region police officer fired for benefits fraud

An officer from the York Regional Police Service was fired yesterday for benefits fraud, two years after pleading guilty and being suspended with pay. In the…

Pharmacogenomic testing to be available in Canadian pharmacies

Pharmacogenomic testing to be available in Canadian pharmacies

Pharmacogenomic testing is coming to a pharmacy near you, following a joint venture between the British Columbia Pharmacy Association and myDNA, a genetic interpretation service…

Sounding Board: Time to factor health costs in considerations of pension adequacy

Sounding Board: Time to factor health costs in considerations of pension adequacy

Some 323,000 Canadians have inadequate retirement income once the costs of long-term health care are factored in, a figure that could grow to about 815,500…

Education support a growing benefits focus for employers: survey

Education support a growing benefits focus for employers: survey

Support for employee development is among the key trends identified by human resources association WorldatWork in its new total rewards inventory that examines the prevalence of 176…

  • By: Jann Lee
  • February 8, 2017 September 13, 2019
  • 16:13
Brampton auto workers strike over wages, benefits

Brampton auto workers strike over wages, benefits

Employees at Vast Auto Distribution in Brampton, Ont. are striking over wages and benefits. The main issue, according to Unifor’s national representative Paulo Ribeiro, is that…

Benefits plan must cover medical pot, human rights commission rules

Benefits plan must cover medical pot, human rights commission rules

The Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission has ruled a benefits plan must cover a member’s medical marijuana prescription. “Employee benefit plans are not required to cover…

Many older Canadians don’t take drugs as prescribed due to cost: study

Many older Canadians don’t take drugs as prescribed due to cost: study

An argument for national pharmacare is the number of older Canadians who either don’t fill prescriptions or skip doses because they’re too expensive, a new study published in…

  • By: Staff
  • February 3, 2017 September 13, 2019
  • 10:35
Liberals won’t tax health and dental plans: Trudeau

Liberals won’t tax health and dental plans: Trudeau

The benefits industry is welcoming comments from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau yesterday that suggested his government doesn’t plan to tax employee health and dental plans. “The…

  • By: Jann Lee
  • February 2, 2017 September 13, 2019
  • 11:04
Workplace psychological health on the rise, study finds

Workplace psychological health on the rise, study finds

Canadian workplaces have become psychologically safer over the past seven years, according to two studies commissioned by the Great-West Life Centre for Mental Health in…