The previous year was an interesting one in the world of employee benefits plans.
Over the previous 12 months, employers have navigated the explosion of claims for glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist medications like Ozempic, some forward momentum on national pharmacare and some employers changed their approach to diversity, equity and inclusion policies. Here are five trends that will likely take centre stage in 2025:
1. Chronic disease management
While mental-health supports rightly remain in the spotlight, many insurers are strengthening their approach to chronic disease management and assisting employers in helping employees living with chronic conditions to manage their health while improving outcomes, reducing complications and mitigating the impacts on the workplace.
Read: How benefits plan sponsors, insurers are managing newer — and effective — GLP-1 medications
While chronic disease was once considered an issue for older people, more working-age Canadians manage one or more chronic conditions with almost half of Canadians reporting that they currently live with a chronic health condition. The impacts on health costs of chronic disease on both private and public health care is significant and projections for both incidence and costs are trending upward.
The approach to chronic disease management in the workplace needs to be both preventative, as many chronic diseases are preventable, and supportive for those already living with one or more conditions. Well-being programs that focus on blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar management, along with mental health and healthy weight supports and treatments, can help plan members and their families reduce risk factors toward developing a chronic health condition or slow the progression of the disease or development of complications.
While weight management is its own significant trend, it’s also part of an overall chronic disease management strategy as unhealthy weight is a complex condition which is considered a chronic disease on its own but is also a comorbidity for a number of chronic diseases.
Read: Claims for chronic disease drugs increasing fastest among younger plan members: report
By evaluating their drug, disability, extended health and employee assistance program data, employers can get a good picture of the state of health within their organization — which chronic diseases are present, what their risks as an organization are and which diseases to target through prevention and screening programs, education or health coaching supports.
Consultants and insurers may offer programs or services that encourage prevention through behaviour change or have supports in place to help those with chronic disease navigate the health-care system and manage their conditions.
2. Personalization
Personalization in benefits can be expressed in many ways — in offering coverage options to plan members through either flexible benefits or voluntary benefits so that people can craft their coverage to meet their needs and their lifestyle; in using a person’s unique circumstances, health and claims history and behaviour to nudge them toward helpful adjunctive treatment or therapies covered by their benefits plan and help them stay on track with their treatment plans; or exploring other resources or supports available to them based on their own profile.
Read: How employers are using data to integrate DEI into their benefits plans
Artificial intelligence certainly comes into play here, with its expanding application in the personalization space. Younger generations in the workforce also welcome push messages and help that supports their health and well-being, and they’re looking for employers to provide this sort of health support.
And while there have been some organizations in the news this year who have reevaluated their DEI approaches, personalization in its essence supports diversity and inclusivity.
3. Cost pressures
With the cost of health benefits projected to rise at a level 50 per cent higher than last year’s figure and dental fee guides not yet returning to their pre-pandemic levels, employers and employees alike are feeling the effects of rising costs of benefits and subsequent out-of-pocket costs.
For many employers, these cost pressures coincide with other inflationary impacts, with cost constraints already in play or contemplated. As a result, many employers are considering changes to benefits design to help flatten the cost curve.
Read: Canadian health benefits cost trend increasing to 7.4% in 2025: report
An analysis of claims data can point to escalation trends as well as opportunities to influence consumer behaviour for more prudent buying decisions for the treatment and services that plan members value.
When considering plan design changes, it’s important for employers to use their benefits philosophy as the guardrail. This philosophy will help employers make difficult decisions about cost-containment levers without sacrificing the goals they had for the plan in the first place.
4. Financial well-being
Just as organizations are feeling cost pressures, Canadians are also feeling the impacts of higher prices for many consumer goods coupled with housing costs and a cooling labour market.
This environment has resulted in many people feeling stressed about finances, spending and their financial future. Employers can help by promoting the programs and resources available to employees like savings programs, debt management and budgeting resources and retirement income calculators.
Read: Meridian continuing to support employee financial well-being with living wage
Employers can offset some of the impacts of cost shifting they may be experiencing from changes to benefits by introducing health-care spending accounts to take up some of their out-of-pocket burden. They can lean on their EAP provider and/or retirement savings provider for education, resource support and self-guided tools.
5. Expectations of a changing workforce
Over the past several years, organizations have experienced an evolution in the composition of their workforce.
The average employee age may be increasing as the workforce ages and employees delay retirement. More employees have been born outside of Canada than ever before. An employer’s talent acquisition practices may have changed during the coronavirus pandemic and their workforce may have consequently grown more decentralized through a combination of in-person, remote and hybrid work arrangements.
Read: Employers can help gen Z workers feel less isolated through social activities, mentoring: experts
Among these changes, employee expectations and needs have also changed and employers must ensure their benefits, well-being and retirement savings programs are keeping pace.
An employee engagement survey is a good place to start. Alongside questions about their employee experience, employers can ask them for feedback about their benefits plans — what they value, what’s missing the mark and what’s meeting their needs. A redesign may be in order (especially when coupled with some of the other trends listed above), but a reframing or few tweaks might be all that’s required.
While several of these trends have already begun to surface, they’re likely to gain significance in the year ahead. Employers can be proactive and reflect on how these trends may play out in their own workplaces and anticipate the impacts on their benefits plans and the labour market.
Read: All generations of employees say hybrid work supports productivity, job satisfaction: survey