Medication-related issues are negatively affecting employees’ health, causing them to take extended leaves from their jobs and leading to high benefits and disability costs for employers, according to a new white paper by HumanisRx. These issues include incompatible or duplicate drugs, higher than recommended doses, suboptimal therapy and failure to take medications as prescribed. “Our research finds […]
Ontario has proposed amendments to provincial drug regulations that aim to change the pricing model for generic drugs and simplify the process for the province’s drug formulary to list biosimilars. Ontario’s Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care said the changes are aimed at reducing the “administrative burden” for drug manufacturers and pharmacies. With regards to […]
Hub International Ltd. is expanding its Canadian employee benefits and retirement services with six key service areas. It also named its employee benefits leadership team for the country, including Robert Taylor of TRG Group Benefits, which was acquired by Hub in January; Hub chief innovation officer Faizal Mitha; Mary-Lou MacDonald, Hub’s national practice lead of health and […]
On Oct. 24, the 2019 Calgary Drug Trends Summit featured presentations to educate plan sponsors and advisors about specific disease states and their challenges, new drug treatment categories and key drug trends facing benefits plans. Here’s what you missed! New drug therapies for common conditions could impact private plan sustainability While medical advancements and drug […]
While medical advancements and drug therapy innovations have been life-changing for patients and plan members, they also come with increasing costs, said Victoria Shaw, drug benefits manager at Alberta Blue Cross, speaking at Benefits Canada’s 2019 Calgary Drug Trends Summit on Oct. 24. Between 2011 to 2017, the number of high-cost drugs doubled. From 2016 to 2017, in […]
When it comes to switching from a biologic to a biosimilar drug, patient choice and engagement is extremely important, according to Durhane Wong-Rieger, president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Organization for Rare Disorders. “While a patient’s on a drug, they need to be continuously monitoring,” she said during a session at Benefits Canada’s 2019 Calgary Drug […]
When it comes to health-care spending in Canada, there isn’t a lot of variance between provinces, according to Joe Farago, executive director of private payers and investment at Innovative Medicines Canada. In a session at Benefits Canada’s 2019 Halifax Benefits Summit on Sept. 24, he said prescription drugs’ percentage of the total health-care budget has been fairly consistent, at 15 […]
Sixty per cent of all prescriptions in Canada are paid for by employer-provided drug plans and some have life-time limits for biologic reimbursement. However, transitioning to a biosimilar could extend this limit for patients, said Dr. John Esdaile, scientific director at Arthritis Research Canada, during Benefits Canada’s Halifax Benefits Summit on Sept. 24. Biologic drugs are derived through […]
The cost of employer-provided health benefits in Canada is forecasted to rise six per cent in 2020, outpacing general inflation by 1.9 per cent, according to a 2020 trend rates report by Aon. The increase is due to higher costs from the rising spend on drugs in general, noted a press release. Globally, costs for employer-sponsored medical plans in 2020 are expected to increase […]
Prescription drug costs for public drug plans covering most of Canada increased 7.4 per cent in 2017/18 to reach $11.4 billion, according to a new report by the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board. It’s a significant increase compared to the more modest 1.9 per cent growth in prescription drug costs from 2016/17. The board looked at data […]