Plan sponsors are increasingly adopting plan design tools to manage their drug plan costs, according to Telus Health’s annual drug trends report. It found private plan drug costs have grown 0.3 per cent per year on average for the past 10 years, made up of an average 2.1 per cent annual decrease in the cost […]
If the Canada-United States-Mexico trade agreement goes through it could have a significant impact on the cost of private drug plans. Currently on hold until members of Parliament return to Ottawa after the summer break, the agreement as written would extend the data protection term for biologic drugs to 10 years from the current eight. If […]
Almost half (44 per cent) of plan members said they’ve had a benefits claim denied, according to the 2019 Sanofi Canada health-care survey. Among this group, 20 per cent have had a dental claim denied, followed by a prescription drug claim (15 per cent) and a claim for a paramedical service (13 per cent). More […]
Plan sponsors and plan members are unaware of the key differences between private and public drug plans, according to the 2019 Sanofi Canada health-care survey. Both employer and employee respondents said they believe private and public prescription drug plans cover close to the same amount of medications. Plan members estimated about 6,600 drugs are covered under private […]
Industry groups had mixed feelings about an expert panel’s report calling for a single-payer pharmacare plan. Released on Wednesday by Eric Hoskins, former Ontario health minister, the report recommended Canada and the provinces work together to create a unified program that addresses the country’s patchwork of prescription drug plans. Provinces and territories, the panel said, […]
On May 24, the 2019 Vancouver Benefits Summit focused on how employers can make their organization its healthiest by starting with their benefits plans. Here’s what you missed! Panel: Should drug coverage for certain conditions still be optional? In many workplace drug plans, medications that treat certain conditions remain in the optional life category, but is […]
In many workplace drug plans, medications that treat certain conditions remain in the optional life category, but is this structure still valid today? The optional life category has traditionally been referred to as “lifestyle,” said Rob Taylor, executive vice-president at TRG Group Benefits and Pensions Inc., a division of Hub International Ltd., during a panel […]
If the Canadian government wants to tackle drug coverage, it should focus on the areas where Canadians are facing genuine gaps, according to Joe Farago, executive director of health-care innovation at Innovative Medicines Canada. “The reality is only 1.8 per cent of Canadians have no form of private or public drug coverage,” said Farago, speaking at Benefits […]
Inflammatory conditions have the power to severely affect employees’ productivity and general quality of life. But new biologic treatments are raising the success rates for sufferers, according to Aaron Sihota, primary care pharmacist and clinical instructor at the University of British Columbia’s faculty of pharmaceutical sciences, at Benefits Canada’s 2019 Vancouver Benefits Summit at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel on May 24. “Why […]
Inflammatory conditions have the power to severely affect employees’ productivity and general quality of life. But new biologic treatments are raising the success rates for sufferers, according to Aaron Sihota, primary care pharmacist and clinical instructor at the University of British Columbia’s faculty of pharmaceutical sciences, at Benefits Canada’s 2019 Vancouver Benefits Summit at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel on May 24. “Why […]