A large majority (80 per cent) of Canadian employers feel it’s extremely (36 per cent) or somewhat challenging (44 per cent) to provide benefits in today’s economic climate, according to the 2024 Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey.
However, three-quarters (77 per cent) of plan sponsors indicated their health benefits plan was extremely or very important to their organization overall. The top reasons cited for the plan’s importance were to protect employees against undue financial burden due to health needs (67 per cent) and for talent attraction and retention (61 per cent). Forty-one per cent said the plan was important because it’s a component of a broader health strategy.
Read: 72% of plan members appreciate health benefits more today than before pandemic: survey
In addition, almost half (47 per cent) of plan sponsors said their benefits plan is more important today than it was before the coronavirus pandemic, while 43 per cent said it was as important and just seven per cent said it was less important. The size of the organization, type of plan and utilization levels were among the factors influencing these results.
The survey also found costs are top of mind for plan sponsors. Among respondents that said it’s very challenging to provide a benefits plan, overall cost management was the top concern (51 per cent), followed by drug plan costs (32 per cent), the impact of inflation (31 per cent), plan members’ increased utilization of their benefits (30 per cent) and their growing expectations of a plan as a condition of employment (28 per cent).
Two in five (40 per cent) plan sponsors said it’s more challenging to provide a benefits plan today than before the pandemic, while 46 per cent said it was as challenging and 14 per cent felt it was less challenging.
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In the past year, 34 per cent of plan sponsors added at least one benefit or improved coverage levels, up from the previous three years — 28 per cent in 2023, 30 per cent in 2022 and just 11 per cent in 2021. And 10 per cent removed at least one benefit or reduced coverage levels, down from 14 per cent a year ago and a high of 28 per cent in 2021, in the midst of the pandemic.
In the year ahead, respondents’ desired objectives are to reduce or control costs (39 per cent), improve and/or increase what benefits are offered (39 per cent), better understand benefits utilization (33 per cent) and costs (33 per cent) and raise awareness among plan members of what’s available (31 per cent).
Among the group that intend to improve and/or increase the benefits offered, 40 per cent anticipated they’d improve or increase mental-health benefits, while positive changes were also anticipated for paramedical benefits excluding mental health (30 per cent), dental plans (29 per cent) and employee assistance programs (29 per cent).
Meanwhile, respondents that said they expect to reduce or remove benefits were most likely to do so for the drug plan (29 per cent), paramedical benefits (13 per cent), benefits supporting diversity, equity and inclusion (13 per cent) and the dental plan (12 per cent).
Download the full 2024 Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey report here. Tune in next week to read coverage of the panel discussions analyzing this year’s results.