In 2022, some of the top chronic conditions affecting group benefits plans were diabetes, obesity, depression and arthritis. Diabetes was the No. 1 ranked condition for drug claims in 2022, knocking rheumatoid arthritis down to the No. 2 spot, according to Telus Health’s annual drug plan trends report. And the 2023 Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey […]
Canada’s most recent census found there are 59,460 Canadians aged 15 or older who identify as transgender and 41,355 who identified as non-binary. However, these individuals disproportionately experience egregious discrimination and are most at risk of violence — sexual assault, in particular — than their cisgender counterparts. A lack of support and action by employers to […]
Half (51 per cent) of Canadian benefits plan members say they understand their plan extremely or very well, down from 65 per cent in 2018, according to the 2023 Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey. It found plan members’ top sources for information about their benefits plan were websites (69 per cent), followed at some distance by […]
More than half (54 per cent) of Canadian benefits plan members currently live with at least one diagnosed chronic health condition, according to the 2023 Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey. It found the top current diagnoses were a mental-health condition such as depression or anxiety (18 per cent), high cholesterol (12 per cent), arthritis (12 per […]
More than a quarter (38 per cent) of plan members say they’ve experienced a high level of stress on a typical day over the past three months, up from 27 per cent in 2022 and exceeding the previous high mark recorded in 2021 (35 per cent), according to the 2023 Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey. The […]
A fifth (21 per cent) of Canadian workers say they’re considering leaving their job, according to Telus Health’s latest mental-health index. The average mental-health score for July was 65.2, an improvement from the previous three months when it remained at 64.6. However, the survey found the average mental-health score (56.3) of those contemplating a new […]
Though summer is drawing to a close, employers can help employees prevent post-vacation burnout year-round by balancing their workloads and offering extensive mental-health supports, says Dr. Matthew Chow, chief mental-health officer at Telus Health. “It’s critical for people to have regularly scheduled time off and time away from their work. What has been proven time and […]
Citing a variety of surveys, Terry-Lynn Levy (pictured left), manager of human resources, benefits, wellness and HR information systems at Fluor Canada, said more than a third of Canadians cite money as their biggest financial concern and people experiencing financial stress are twice as likely to report poor overall health. These individuals are also more prone […]
Specialty drugs are accounting for a slightly smaller portion of the total eligible amount for all drug claims, declining from 33.6 per cent in 2021 to 33.1 per cent in 2022, according to Telus Health’s annual drug trends report. The report, based on claims data from more than 4.6 million plan members in 2022, found the […]
Community Savings Credit Union is reducing stigma around mental health in the workplace and the community through increased wellness support and advocacy work. The British Columbia-based credit union recently increased coverage for mental-health counselling to $2,000 per employee per year and renamed sick days to ‘health days’ to help employees feel more supported. “We wanted […]