While insomnia is a disorder, it’s just as commonly a symptom, which most people and physicians don’t grasp, said Dr. Atul Khullar, medical director at the Northern Alberta Sleep Clinic. A lot of times, not sleeping is essentially the body breaking down because of a separate disorder, risk factor or residual symptom of a mental-health […]
While high-cost specialty medications represent about 30 per cent of drug costs, the total budget impact of rare disease drugs is less than two per cent, said Brad McCaw, associate director of market access at Alexion Pharmaceuticals Canada. Within the high-cost specialty market’s top 20 drugs, only one is designated for rare disease, he said […]
Brand-name drug companies could put off introducing new medicine in Canada and scale back research here if the country makes a major shift to cheaper generic alternatives under a national pharmacare plan, according to an internal federal analysis. The concerns were included last year in a briefing document for federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau that […]
In its 2019 budget on Tuesday, the federal government confirmed it will work with partners to move forward on three foundational elements of national pharmacare. The initial steps are the creation of a new national drug agency and a national formulary, which were both recommended by the advisory council on the implementation of national pharmacare in its interim […]
Though many plan sponsors are still using step therapy to manage drug plan costs, pharmacogenetic testing is receiving attention as more providers enter the market, lower the cost and familiarize employers and insurers with the technology. As it becomes more sophisticated, there’s more information about how pharmacogentic testing works, says Sandra Ventin, associate vice-president at […]
Something interesting happened this month as we examined the 2018 experience of two different plan sponsors in two separate geographies with different demographics. The only similarity between the plans is they both have 80,000 or more individual claimants on their drug plan annually. At the same time last year, we completed a series of predictive analytics on […]
While insurers are consistently providing innovative plan design options for employers, that doesn’t detract from the reality that it’s a difficult time for employers, according to the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association’s Karen Voin. “At the heart of it, they want to ensure they’re not impacting their employees, and are really conscious of what the impact […]
Spending on prescription drugs is expected to total $33.7 billion in 2018, according to a new report by the Canadian Institute for Health Information. Of that total, $19.3 billion will come from private insurance and individuals paying out of pocket, while the remaining $14.4 billion will be financed by the public sector. As a whole, drug spending […]
The Canadian Dental Association read with interest your Oct. 12, 2018, article titled, A look at the drivers for curbing rising dental costs. The CDA and every provincial dental association in Canada are concerned with the cost of dentistry. Each year, provincial dental associations develop fee guides that balance the cost of care with dental fees, knowing […]
The 2018 Calgary Drug Trends Summit shone a spotlight on a wide range of trends, from new advances in drug and lifestyle therapies to the impact of cannabis legalization on benefits coverage to drug plan cost management. Here are some of the highlights of the sessions: A look at pharmacist-led deprescribing using therapeutic nutrition intervention Achieving radiant […]