Defined contribution plan administrators that want to boost members’ financial behaviour should follow the lead of superstitious sports stars by embracing the surprising power of rituals, according to a Toronto management consultant. Kelly Peters, chief executive officer of BEworks Inc., told attendees at the Benefits Canada’s Defined Contribution Investment Forum in Toronto on Friday that it’s […]
A group of retired public servants learned the hard way just how difficult it can be to mount a constitutional challenge to benefits changes, according to a Toronto lawyer. In Bemister v. Canada (Attorney General), retired members of the voluntary public service health-care plan, which also covers active federal employees, claimed a move to double […]
Pension plan administrators should get used to dealing with requests for their actuarial documents while lawyers duke it out over just how confidential they are, according to a pension lawyer. Natasha Monkman, a pension lawyer at Hicks Morley Hamilton Stewart Storie LLP, says plan administrators have traditionally viewed financial information filed with their provincial regulators […]
British Columbia’s pension regulator is cracking down on vague termination expense assumptions over fears unrealistic calculations have caused some plans to overstate their solvency ratios. “We’re becoming a little more rigorous in our expectations,” says Michael Peters, the acting superintendent of pensions at the Financial Institutions Commission of British Columbia in Vancouver. Guidance issued […]
Employer-led screening can help Canada get ahead of the diabetes epidemic in this country, according to an occupational medical consultant. Dr. Alain Sotto, director of year-round care at Medcan, presented statistics at Benefits Canada’s Chronic Disease at Work conference showing that 3.5 million Canadians suffered from diabetes in 2016, an alarming 72 per cent increase […]
Pharmacies can help plan sponsors free up cash in their drug plans as the effectiveness of traditional methods of cost management fade. That was the message Mark Rolnick, vice-president of payor partnerships and plan sponsor innovation at Shoppers Drug Mart, delivered to the audience at Benefits Canada’s Chronic Disease at Work conference last month. Rolnick […]
Employees with multiple chronic conditions are a growing concern among Canada’s aging workforce, according to a workplace researcher. Peter Smith, a senior scientist at the Institute for Work and Health in Toronto, explained to the audience at Benefits Canada’s Chronic Disease at Work conference last month that while most of the studies in the area […]
Changing the way society thinks about obesity could improve efforts to combat weight problems and the health issues associated with them, according to an expert in the field. Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, medical director of Ottawa’s Bariatric Medical Institute, told delegates at Benefits Canada’s Chronic Disease at Work conference in May that no country in the […]
Stepped drug plans are coming between multiple sclerosis patients and promising new treatments, according to an expert in the field. Dr. Caroline Geenen, a consultant neurologist and chief of medicine at Markham Stouffville Hospital, told attendees at the Benefits Canada’s Chronic Disease at Work conference last month that several newly approved drugs have shown themselves […]
Heart disease is almost unique among chronic diseases for its preventability, says cardiologist Dr. Milan Gupta. Gupta, who works at Osler Cardiology Associates Inc., told attendees at Benefits Canada’s Chronic Disease at Work conference in May that while he spends most of his time treating patients who already have cardiovascular disease, an increasing amount of […]