About a million Canadians are impacted by rare diseases, which disproportionately affect younger patients — 70 per cent start in childhood and, sadly, half of these children won’t reach adulthood, said Suzanne Lepage, a private health plan strategist, during a session supported by Alexion Pharmaceuticals at Benefits Canada‘s 2022 Face to Face Drug Plan Management Forum […]
While vaccine coverage varies across provincial drug plans, several million Canadians who are members of private drug plans don’t have coverage at all, according to Chris Bonnett (pictured left), founder and principal consultant of H3 Consulting, during a panel session supported by GSK, Merck & Co. Inc. and Pfizer Canada Inc. at Benefits Canada’s 2022 […]
Average benefits costs for U.S. employers will increase 6.5 per cent — or more than $13,800 per employee — in 2023, according to a new report by Aon. This projection is more than double the three per cent increase to health-care budgets from 2021 to 2022, but below the 9.1 inflation figure reported through the consumer price […]
U.S. employers are anticipating health benefits costs will rise by an average of 5.6 per cent per employee in 2023, according to early results from a survey by Mercer. The survey, which polled more than 850 U.S. employers, found if respondents made no changes to their benefits plans, the cost for the largest plans would rise […]
The drug pipeline is full of new medications that may be more effective but may also be more expensive than existing treatments. Although they could significantly improve a benefits plan member’s health, they could also render a plan unaffordable. “Because drugs represent a significant portion of group insurance plan costs, plan sponsors are concerned about […]
Employer-provided medical benefits costs in Canada will rise seven per cent in 2022, according to a new survey by Aon. The annual global medical trend rates survey found the expected increase for Canadian employer-sponsored medical plan costs is due to a combination of higher costs for dental care, paramedical expenses and prescription drugs. It was conducted […]
The Nova Scotia Teachers’ Pension Plan returned 6.78 per cent in 2020, increasing net assets to $5.519 billion, but falling short of the policy benchmark of 7.96 per cent. The plan did outperform the actuarial assumed rate of return of 5.70 per cent. “Like many pension plans across the country impacted by COVID-19, we saw […]
Despite concerns Canadian drug prices are skyrocketing, the Patented Medicines Price Review Board, Canada’s price regulator, has ensured costs for patented drugs haven’t increased more than the Canadian Consumer Price Index in close to 30 years, said Wayne Critchley, Global Public Affairs’ senior associate of health and life sciences, during Benefits Canada’s Face to Face […]
A recent Telus Health comparison of a drug’s cost effectiveness when calculated from the private versus the public-payer perspective demonstrated clearly that the private-payer perspective matters when assessing the value of a medication, explained Dr Nina Lathia, pharmacist, and health economist, at Benefits Canada’s Face to Face Drug Plan Management Forum on Dec. 9, 2020. […]
Analysis by Telus Health found specialty drugs have grown from 11 per cent of total private drug plan claims costs in 2008 to 30 per cent in 2019 and require effective management to ensure sustainability of health benefits plans, said Suzanne Lepage, private health plan strategist, during a session at Benefits Canada’s Face to Face […]