While kidney cancer is uncommon in patients younger than age 45, there’s an increasing incidence in diagnosis in young people because of the advent of imaging technology, according to Dr. Nazanin Fallah-Rad, medical oncologist at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and Mount Sinai Hospital. “There’s an increasing incidence of younger people being diagnosed with kidney cancer and […]
By the year 2031, 2.2 million Canadians will be living with cancer, with 40 per cent between the ages of 20 and 65 — the typical working years, according to Maureen Parkinson, provincial rehabilitation counsellor at B.C. Cancer Agency and co-director of Cancer and Work. In a session at Benefits Canada’s 2020 Employers Cancer Care […]
When it comes to benefits plan management, each case is individual, said Diana Godfrey, senior vice-president of human resources and corporate at Fidelity Canada, during a session at Benefits Canada’s 2020 Employers Cancer Care Summit on Mar. 3. “If employers think they have a program or policy that covers every situation, they may be mistaken.” […]
When a person experiences a cancer diagnosis and undergoes treatment, it can be one of the most distressing experiences they can go through, so it’s important for employers to understand psychosocial oncology. “We’re now collecting evidence to show that proactive care — psychosocial oncology — is effective in helping people prepare and deal with psychological […]
Taking a look at private drug plans in 2020, a number of trends are converging: spending on specialty drugs is continuing its upward trajectory, advancements in a number of lifechanging therapies are in the pipeline and policy developments are coming at both the federal and provincial levels. In the face of this potential storm, plan […]
Looking ahead to 2020, the big story for health benefits is often avoided because it isn’t easy to address. It’s the elephant in the room. Over the past year, there’s been no shortage of momentum in new and emerging product offerings in the health benefits space — everything from digital cognitive behavioural therapy to virtual […]
While medical advancements and drug therapy innovations have been life-changing for patients and plan members, they also come with increasing costs, said Victoria Shaw, drug benefits manager at Alberta Blue Cross, speaking at Benefits Canada’s 2019 Calgary Drug Trends Summit on Oct. 24. Between 2011 to 2017, the number of high-cost drugs doubled. From 2016 to 2017, in […]
Only eight per cent of Canadian women who are eligible for a vaccine that covers nine strains of the human papillomavirus are actually receiving it. While one barrier is a lack of knowledge among health-care professionals and patients alike, another is the lack of coverage in group benefits plans, said Dr. Angel Chu, an infectious diseases physician at Foothills Medical Centre, […]
The Health Association of Nova Scotia, which has a number of different employers in its benefits plan, cites rheumatoid arthritis medications as its top drugs in terms of cost. “Chronic disease, in terms of inflammatory disease — not just for rheumatoid, but for Crohn’s disease as well — those are what we’re seeing from a […]
While “brain fog” isn’t a clinical condition, it feels like forgetfulness, slow thinking and difficulty concentrating. It happens to everyone at some point and can often impact productivity at work. Some common causes of brain fog include stress, lack of sleep, dehydration, hormonal changes from pregnancy or andropause/menopause, an unhealthy diet, vitamin B12 deficiency, chemotherapy and side-effects […]