Plan sponsors are increasingly adopting plan design tools to manage their drug plan costs, according to Telus Health’s annual drug trends report. It found private plan drug costs have grown 0.3 per cent per year on average for the past 10 years, made up of an average 2.1 per cent annual decrease in the cost […]
Benefits Canada is extending the deadline for entering the 2019 Workplace Benefits Awards to Monday, July 15. The annual awards, which will be held in Toronto on Oct. 17, recognize employers and plan sponsors that are leading the industry in their approaches to supporting the mental, physical and financial well-being of their employees. Enter the 2019 Workplace […]
Plan sponsors and plan members are unaware of the key differences between private and public drug plans, according to the 2019 Sanofi Canada health-care survey. Both employer and employee respondents said they believe private and public prescription drug plans cover close to the same amount of medications. Plan members estimated about 6,600 drugs are covered under private […]
On May 24, the 2019 Vancouver Benefits Summit focused on how employers can make their organization its healthiest by starting with their benefits plans. Here’s what you missed! Panel: Should drug coverage for certain conditions still be optional? In many workplace drug plans, medications that treat certain conditions remain in the optional life category, but is […]
In many workplace drug plans, medications that treat certain conditions remain in the optional life category, but is this structure still valid today? The optional life category has traditionally been referred to as “lifestyle,” said Rob Taylor, executive vice-president at TRG Group Benefits and Pensions Inc., a division of Hub International Ltd., during a panel […]
If the Canadian government wants to tackle drug coverage, it should focus on the areas where Canadians are facing genuine gaps, according to Joe Farago, executive director of health-care innovation at Innovative Medicines Canada. “The reality is only 1.8 per cent of Canadians have no form of private or public drug coverage,” said Farago, speaking at Benefits […]
If the Canadian government wants to tackle drug coverage, it should focus on the areas where Canadians are facing genuine gaps, according to Joe Farago, executive director of health-care innovation at Innovative Medicines Canada. “The reality is only 1.8 per cent of Canadians have no form of private or public drug coverage,” said Farago, speaking at Benefits […]
Drug plan design changes are often unavoidable, whether they’re due to a carrier modifying contracts across the board or an employer looking to manage ballooning costs. Generally, “plan sponsors are looking at programs like more managed formularies and, potentially, maximums,” says Suzanne Lepage, a private health plan strategist in Kitchener, Ont. “Changes driven at the […]