While a national pharmacare program is yet to be revealed by the federal government, any future plan should contain provisions for all costly treatments and not just rare diseases, says Jennifer Schmidt, a principal at Mercer Canada. Read: Federal budget highlights national childcare system, extension of pandemic subsidies This week’s federal budget announcement contained only […]
While drug plan costs are increasing for plan sponsors, the causes for these increases may depend on which part of Canada a plan sponsor resides in, says Philippe Laplante, a principal responsible for the group benefits practice in Eckler Ltd.’s Montreal office. Over the past three years in Quebec, the average annual increase of recommended pricing […]
In its 2020 budget submission to the Ontario government, the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association is highlighting a lack of access to affordable prescription drugs and inflexible pension plans. With respect to prescription drugs, the CLHIA noted it supports the federal Patented Medicine Prices Review Board reforms, which were introduced on Friday. “It is crucial that the […]
While medical cannabis coverage is appearing in more benefits plans, most insurers that cover it still have very specific conditions. Sun Life Canada covers the most conditions, at seven, after adding two ailments to its roster in 2019. Marie-Chantal Côté, the insurer’s vice-president of market development for group benefits, says evidence is emerging that shows […]
An upcoming Sun Life Canada drug plan change that will be implemented outside of plan sponsors’ renewal periods is calling attention to the practice of block-level contract amendments. Sun Life is set to implement the first phase of its reference drug program on Oct. 1, which the insurer says will help plan sponsors with drug plan sustainability by creating categories […]
Over the past four years, total drug costs adjudicated by HBM+ have risen from about $1.2 billion to $1.5 billion, while the number of claimants has increased from 1.7 million to more than two million. The inaugural drug trends and strategic insights report by the health benefits manager, a division of Green Shield Canada, examined drug […]
Plan sponsors have to move beyond benefits plan reporting and dig into analytics to better understand medication non-adherence and the top disease states affecting their workforces. “Leveraging plan-specific data can help answer the fundamental questions needed to manage your benefits program,” said Shawn O’Brien, Telus Health’s principal of data enablement and drug, health, dental product roadmaps, during a session at Benefits […]
Nearly half (49 per cent) of Canadian plan members said they’re confident their group benefits plan will cover medications for serious diseases such as cancer and diabetes, which cost between $1,000 and $10,000 per month, according to the 2020 Sanofi Canada health-care survey. When presented with the scenario of a drug that can treat or […]
The limitation of prescriptions to 30-day supplies aims to protect against drug shortages, but it’s creating challenges for Canadians who are living on fixed incomes. Beverley Zwicker, chief executive officer and registrar at the Nova Scotia College of Pharmacists The coronavirus pandemic has challenged us all to work together for the greater good. We now […]
In June 2017, the federal government amended the Canadian Human Rights Act to strengthen protections against employment discrimination for LGBTQ+ individuals, forbidding employers across all jurisdictions to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. While the protections and language used by organizations can vary, the intent of the protections is […]