Employers that are considering dropping dental coverage from their benefits plan following the launch of the national dental care program are advised to think twice, says Graham Young, director of employee benefits at Capcorp Financial Corp. The national plan — administered by Health Canada, with support from a third-party benefits administrator — provides dental coverage for uninsured Canadians with […]
An article outlining the implications of a single-payer universal pharmacare system was the most-read story on BenefitsCanada.com this week. Here are the top five human resources, benefits, pension and investmnet stories of the past week: 1. Sounding Board: What plan sponsors should know about pharmacare 2. Meet the 2024 Workplace Benefits Awards judges 3. Mental-health claims by Canadians up […]
Plan sponsors worried about the expense and sustainability of their drug plan might initially embrace a pharmacare plan, hoping to shift drug costs to a new program funded by provincial and federal governments. However, this may not be the solution it seems. A single-payer universal pharmacare system might limit medication access for individuals with employer-sponsored benefits […]
Academics from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and the University of Victoria have released a report calling on the federal government to make permanent its new partial capital gains tax exemption for sales of existing firms to employee ownership trusts and extend it to worker cooperatives. In its 2024 budget, the federal government released further […]
To reach 2050 net-zero targets, investment volume in U.S. and European clean power markets has to be scaled on an annualized basis from now until 2030, said Daniel Sausmikat, partner of origination and execution at InfraRed Capital Partners, during the Canadian Investment Review‘s 2024 Global Investment Conference held in April. However, progress isn’t going to […]
In its newest guidance, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario is barring pension plan administrators from registering retroactive adverse amendments that could have a negative impact on plan members or beneficiaries, such as changes in contribution rates, subject to limited exceptions. “What we found coming out of the [coronavirus] pandemic, . . . there was […]
The federal government’s pharmacare bill is headed to the Senate after passing third reading in the House of Commons. The bill was the result of careful and lengthy negotiations between the Liberals and the New Democratic Party as a key element of their political pact to prevent an early election. Read: Liberals table bill paving way […]
While the concept behind the federal government’s universal pharmacare plan is well intentioned, the program would make a larger impact for employers by focusing on high-cost and specialty drugs, says Pam Martin, vice-president and senior consultant at Baynes & White Inc. In theory, the way that the government is rolling out the program in small […]
A story on how private payers are implementing preferred pharmacy networks to reduce benefits plan costs was the most-read story on BenefitsCanada.com this week. Here are the top five human resources, benefits, pension and investment stories of the past week: 1. More private payers seeking to reduce costs turning to preferred pharmacy networks: expert 2. Chipotle expanding […]
In its 2024 budget on Tuesday, the federal government announced a new working group dedicated to encouraging increased domestic investments by Canadian institutional investors. Former Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz is being tasked to lead an organization that will identify priority investment opportunities in the country for the more than $3 trillion held by […]