For as long as I can remember, employee benefits plan sponsors have been talking about benefits cost management. In the face of double-digit cost increases…
The healthcare landscape has drastically evolved since employers started implementing drug plans, but employers—and their consultants—have been slow to adapt to those changes, and their…
Employee health benefits plans in Canada have been adversely impacted to date by a slow uptake of e-health technology across the healthcare industry and inconsistencies…
Employee health benefits plans in Canada have been adversely impacted to date by a slow uptake of e-health technology across the healthcare industry and inconsistencies…
According to the Sun Life Canadian Health Index, almost 45% of Canadians don’t put their health at the top of their priority list—for some, it’s…
Dubbed “Blue Monday,” January 17 (or the third Monday of January) is supposed to the most depressing day of the year. The day originated in…
Technological change is all around us, and many industries—such as media, banking and retail—have used it to significant advantage. The group benefits industry, however, has…
Plan design as an important strategic plan management tool is back in business. The focus on plan design has been given a big boost by…
Judge Karen Weiler of the Court of Appeal of Ontario has denied a leave to appeal motion brought by the Dissenting Nortel Disabled Employees in…
Plans sponsors and members in British Columbia are reminded of the BC Medical Services Plan premium increases that will come into effect in a couple…
Last November, Hewitt surveyed 133 Canadian employers about their views on existing tools and techniques for controlling drug benefit plan costs, as well as on…
NAV Canada has had a pension plan communications strategy in place since 2000. But a growing realization from the pension team that members were not…
I don’t claim to be an actuary, but how can a simple formula provide an appropriate valuation of a company’s drug plan liability for dynamic…
Given the past 18 months, it’s no surprise healthcare budgets haven’t increased. Employers are struggling to figure out how to stretch their limited resources to…
Why is there a focus on generic drug reform? asked Barbara Martinez, a principal with Mercer, speaking on December 1 during a Mercer webinar entitled…
Employers must rethink their healthcare priorities for the 21st century, focusing on prevention programs that will reduce the cost associated with critical illnesses, according to…
More than six years ago, the HR team at Cogsdale Corp. noticed that its employees’ health and benefits claims were less than the premiums being…
Benefits consulting in Atlantic Canada is like standing on a rock-bound cliff in the face of a nor’easter: you know rough and risky times are…
In Newfoundland and Labrador, about 40% of the 280 municipalities offer healthcare benefits to their employees, and only 20% offer any type of retirement or…
Keeping group benefits costs to a minimum is a challenge for all employers. But according to a survey by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit…
As the Canadian economy sluggishly moves past the recent recession, employers will have to quickly pull their heads out of the sand when it comes…
Is flex for our company? Does it work better than the traditional one-size-fits-all approach? Many plan sponsors have mulled over these questions for the last…
Canada ranks among the top 10 of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries for money spent on health (measured by both GDP per capita…
Every day, according to Statistics Canada, 14.5 million people go to work at a small or medium-size place of employment. It is no wonder these…
Employees who have remained on the payroll after the most recent economic downturn may be feeling the stress of decreased resources and increased burdens. Some…