Over the past year or two, plan sponsors have likely noticed drugs treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA) suddenly appearing in their listing of top therapeutic classes by cost for their paid drug claims. As RA is a leading cause of disability and can be a significant claims cost driver, it’s important to understand how RA impacts those who have been diagnosed with it and what employers can do to support positive health outcomes for their employees with this disease.
A new research centre aims to develop evidence-based policy options that will allow Canada’s current disability policy system to provide better income support and labour-market engagement for people when they are injured, ill or disabled.
Debra Wight, manager of employee health, safety and benefits for the municipality of Richmond Hill, Ont., has definitely followed one rule from All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten: play fair.
While Canada has made great strides in equal opportunity employment, companies might still be inadvertently discriminating against disabled individuals.
The rising costs of absenteeism and disability have compelled many organizations to put a new emphasis on actively managing disability claims in their organization. Consequently, employers are increasingly asking their insurers or third-party disability adjudicator to share information about a claim or a claim’s progress so that they might better manage the employee’s absence and eventual return to work.
A Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) report, The Aspiring Workforce, finds that up to 90% of Canadians living with serious mental illnesses are unemployed.
Absenteeism cost the Canadian economy more than $16 billion last year and an effective disability management program can help mitigate those costs.
Bird flu was headline news in 2009. That year tested Paula Allen’s resolve in a way that would shape her approach to workplace mental health and disability management.
September marks the start of Arthritis Awareness Month.
While the income protection of short- term disability (STD) benefits is an essential component of group benefits programs, there is growing concern whether these benefits will be sustainable in the future. But there is a solution: change the way the benefit is administered.