Conference coverage: Calgary Benefits Summit

From pharmacare to analytics, plan sponsors heard about the big issues on the horizon for their benefits plans at Benefits Canada‘s Calgary Benefits Summit.

Presenters at the May 29 event took the audience through a range of topics, including the implications of marijuana legalization and new developments in health-care delivery. And two years after the devastating wildfire in Fort McMurray, Alta., a speaker from Syncrude Canada Ltd. told the story of how the company dealt with the disaster from a human resources perspective.

The conference, which took place at the Fairmont Palliser hotel, also tackled some of the hot topics in health benefits, such as biosimilars and drug cost pressures.

Here are the highlights of the sessions:

Assessing pharmacare’s impact on private drug plans
With a national pharmacare program potentially on the horizon, many plan sponsors will be wondering about the impact on their benefits plans.
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Taking big data to next level key to boosting employee health promotion
By taking the use of data to the next level, employers and insurers can improve their ability to promote better health through benefits plans.
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Rising biosimilar uptake touted amid ‘continuously evolving’ evidence for safety, efficacy
Canada could save an estimated $280 million a year in drug costs if biosimilar uptake here reached the levels seen in Norway, a speaker told attendees at the Calgary Benefits Summit.
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HR, benefits lessons from the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire
Business continuity planning is integral to being ready to react in an emergency, but few companies find themselves having to deal with a situation on the scale of the 2016 wildfire in Fort McMurray, Alta.
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The role of convenience, personalization in a changing health-care landscape
With the workplace changing rapidly, the health-care landscape will be evolving along with it, a speaker told the audience at the Calgary Benefits Summit last month.
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Navigating the ’50 shades of grey’ surrounding marijuana legalization and the workplace
While a recent court ruling has given some relief to plan sponsors concerned about having an obligation cover medical marijuana under their benefits plans, they still face a number of questions with legalization of the recreational version of the drug coming fast.
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