Due to the elimination of the unfunded liability of Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board’s insurance fund, premium rates for employers will be reduced by almost 30 per cent. Beginning Jan. 1, 2019, the reduction will help employers save money, increase investment and create more jobs, resulting in a $1.45 billion injection into the Ontario economy, according […]
A coalition comprised of dozens of federal and provincial health-care organizations, including providers, patient groups, academics, health practitioner unions and professional associations, have teamed up to create a set of principles for national pharmacare in Canada. First, the coaltion believes pharmacare should work as a clear extension of Canada’s current universal health-care system, bringing pharmaceutical services in […]
Rural and suburban postal workers across the country celebrated Thursday after an arbitrator ordered Canada Post to pay them more — much more — as part of a long-awaited pay equity decision. For a majority of the Crown agency’s mostly-female rural and suburban carriers, known as RSMCs, the ruling translates into a 25-per-cent pay hike, plus some increased […]
Eighty-five per cent of Canadians said mental-health services are among the most underfunded in the health-care system, according to a new survey commissioned by the Canadian Mental Health Association. The survey accompanies a national policy paper, which calls for new legislation to address unmet mental-health needs and bring mental-health care into balance with physical health care. It also found 86 […]
Among American employees enrolled in an employer-sponsored health plan, just seven per cent pay no deductible, according to a new survey by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans. Among those with single coverage, nearly half (46 per cent) of respondents pay a deductible between $1,000 and $2,999, followed by $500 to $999 (19 per cent), under […]
The results of the ongoing renegotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement could have an impact on how much Canadians pay for their medications in the future, according to one expert. In an article originally published by not-for-profit media outlet the Conversation, Joel Lexchin, an associate professor of family and community medicine at the University of Toronto, pointed out that the […]
HumanaCare has completed the integration and re-launch of its virtual health platform TranQool. The platform, which the employee health services company acquired in May 2018, will be available to more than 1.3 million Canadians through partnerships with HumanaCare, and allows individuals to access virtual counselling and therapy services. Read: HumanaCare acquires virtual health-care platform “We are excited to […]
Universal pharmacare is an idea that has been kicking around for decades in Canada. Yet despite numerous studies calling for a universal single-payer pharmacare program to ensure all Canadians have access to prescription drugs, the country’s drug system remains a patchwork of public and private plans. This spring, the House of Commons’ standing committee on […]
Cancers caused by the human papillomavirus are on the rise but not necessarily among the demographic groups employers might expect, a speaker told delegates at Benefits Canada’s Healthy Outcomes conference in May. While commonly known as a cause of cervical cancers in women, both sexes are seeing a major rise in anogenital and oral cancers […]
As workforces become more scattered, how can employers ensure they reach all of their workers through their wellness efforts? “Today’s environment is very different from what it was in the past, with an increasing number of employees working from home, being on the road, travelling and having no real regular place of business,” said Sarah […]