Canada’s life and health insurers paid out a record $114 billion in health and retirement benefits last year, up $11 billion since before the coronavirus pandemic and up 60 per cent from a decade ago, according to the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association’s annual fact book. “During a year when many households faced higher […]
Three-fifths (60 per cent) of benefits plan sponsors say the costs of their health benefits plan increased in the past three years, according to the 2023 Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey. It found this percentage decreased from 66 per cent when the question was last asked in 2016 and was unchanged from 2015 (60 per cent). […]
Half (51 per cent) of plan members say the coverage levels of at least one of their health benefits limit their ability to seek necessary treatment, jumping to 84 per cent among those with a major injury in the past 12 months, according to the 2023 Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey. It found this percentage increased […]
A recent report by the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board shows increased growth for private drug plan costs but promising pharmaceutical innovation, says Joe Farago, executive director of private payers and investment at Innovative Medicines Canada. The report also found the number of new medicines launched in Canada was higher than the median for Organisation for […]
Last year, a benefits plan member in British Columbia was shocked when his insurance provider rejected an orthotics claim because the prescriber was a nurse practitioner rather than a “physician.” In the story, reported by the Victoria, B.C.-based Times Colonist, the chief executive officer of Nurses and Nurse Practitioners of B.C. said it wasn’t the […]
More than three-quarters (77 per cent) of large U.S. employers are reporting an increase in mental-health needs among their workforces, according to a new survey by Business Group on Health. The survey, which polled around 150 large employers employing 19 million people, found this is a 33 per cent increase compared to last year, when […]
The costs of U.S. employer-sponsored medical benefits are expected to rise seven per cent in 2024, according to a new survey by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans. The survey found 79 per cent of U.S. employers’ benefits plans are self-funded (with or without stop-loss coverage), while 21 per cent are fully insured. The […]
The union representing employees at Community Support Centre-Northwest in Dryden, Ont. has ratified a three-year agreement that includes retirement savings and benefits gains. The agreement includes a new group registered retirement savings plan with a 100 per cent employer match when employees contribute up to four per cent to the plan. It also includes four […]
Changes to the Public Service Health Care Plan, which took effect on July 1, include $75,000 for certain gender affirming procedures not covered by provincial or territorial health-care programs. Other new benefits include: $300 per year each for a registered dietician, occupational therapist and lactation consultant; $200 per year for batteries for hearing aids; $600 per […]
Canadian plan sponsors and insurers are revisiting how they classify obesity drugs under their benefits plans, amid plan members’ rising demand for Ozempic as a weight-loss treatment. Ozempic, also known under the generic name semaglutide, is a drug used to treat type 2 diabetes. However, the medication has also been credited as a weight-loss treatment, […]