On June 5, Benefits Canada‘s 2019 Chronic Disease at Work conference featured educational presentations around trends and treatments in an effort to help plan sponsors and advisors make the best decisions for their plans and members. Here’s what you missed! Behavioural change a key component to managing chronic disease More than 50 per cent of […]
Thirty per cent of deaths in Canada are due to cardiovascular disease. It kills more woman than all cancers combined. And it cost $21 billion 10 to 15 years ago, so with the rising cost of health care, it’s easy to imagine what that number looks like today. “While I’m up here, four Canadians are […]
By now, the economic burden of chronic disease in Canada has most likely surpassed $200 billion, according to Sarah Lussier Hoskyn, senior analyst, regulatory affairs and market access at Innovative Medicines Canada. “When you think about the total health-care budget in this country, we spent $250 billion in 2017 alone,” Lussier Hoskyn said during a session […]
For adolescents with atopic dermatitis, or eczema, the burden of illness is high and caregivers face many challenges, according to Dr. Neil Shear, president of the Canadian Dermatology Association. “We’re trapped in a qualitative division of mild, moderate and severe, which doesn’t make sense,” said Shear during Benefits Canada’s 2019 Chronic Disease at Work conference […]
While the definition of type 1 diabetes – the body doesn’t produce insulin – sounds clear and concise, this disease is anything but, said Lisa Geelen, a type 1 diabetes caregiver, during Benefits Canada’s 2019 Chronic Disease at Work conference in Toronto on June 5. Diabetes is more of an art than a science to manage, […]
Manulife is launching a preventative opioid management program, extending its Vitality program to group benefits plans and partnering with digital health company Akira Health. The opioid management program features a two-step system. The first ensures plan members who start opioid treatment do so with a short-term supply, while the second encourages using short-acting opioids at the outset. […]
It’s impossible to avoid the simple truth that people get sick, which often keeps them away from work. But which specific health conditions are keeping employees from doing their jobs? The usual suspects Plan sponsors don’t typically capture the reason for a casual absence in terms of a medical condition, says Paula Allen, vice-president of […]
More than half (60 per cent) of North American workforces said their employees are facing more mental health and substance abuse issues than they were two years ago, according to a new survey by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans. The survey, which polled 190 U.S. and 88 Canadian employers, found 40 per cent of […]
With 44 per cent of Canadian workers experiencing mental-health issues and mental health the fastest growing and leading cause of disability claims, benefits plans are feeling the strain. “The numbers are staggering in terms of what we’re seeing and the continual growth of this as an issue,” said Rebecca Smith, director of group life and […]
A national doctors’ group is raising concerns about the Ontario government’s move to allow employers to require workers to provide a doctor’s note to explain even minor illnesses, such as the common cold. Canadian Medical Association president Dr. Gigi Osler says the measure, included in the government’s Bill 47, could cause public health issues, as […]