Morneau Shepell has acquired SBC Systems Company, Inc., a U.S. provider of employee benefits administration systems, based in Atlanta, GA.
It can easily be said that Randy McGlynn, CEO of the Ontario Teachers Insurance Plan (OTIP) based in Waterloo, Ont., has a way with people.
With any financial product, a lack of industry standardization often causes confusion within the marketplace. No product within the benefits market today could be more subject to such confusion than the healthcare spending account (HCSA).
That’s unfortunate because this is a shining example of the wasted opportunity many plan sponsors and advisors incur year after year—they are not making use of the predictive capability of the claims data that make up a plan’s experience.
Flexible benefits programs have been a part of the Canadian benefits scene for a quarter-century. In that time, advances in administration and communications technology have made it easier to implement flex plans—even for plan sponsors with as few as 200 lives.
Benefits management services provider Express Scripts Canada has announced the introduction of a new business model, which, it says, will enable companies to better control the costs of their drug plans.
Watch this video For benefits plan sponsors worried about the increasing costs of their plans, the legislation regarding generic drug price reductions (currently implemented in five provinces) may seem like a saving grace. But not so fast, warns Shawn O’Brien, senior consultant, health and benefits, with Aon Hewitt. He warns that the savings might not […]
American employers are shifting costs to employees, consolidating plan choices, emphasizing account-based plans and requiring employees to do more in order to receive incentives, according to experts at Towers Watson. “Unlike the last few years when many employees saw significant increases in co-payments, deductibles and coinsurance, 2012 looks like a year when we will start […]
Mercer recently released its 2011 What’s Working—Inside Employees’ Minds survey on employee engagement. The survey asked more than 2,000 Canadian workers for their views on various aspects of the employment deal, including pay, benefits, careers, leadership, performance and engagement. The survey analyzes differences by workforce demographics and includes a conjoint analysis to determine what employees […]
Private benefits plan managers can’t deny the impact of biologic drugs on their drug plans. According to Telus Health Solutions 2010 research, biologic drugs represent 14% to 16% of drug spend and 60% of catastrophic claims. However, they account for less than 1% of the total number of claims, according to ESI Canada’s 2009 Drug […]