Barbara Martinez, a principal with Mercer, reported on the findings of the organization’s 2011 survey of Canadian private drug plans.
Less than 20% of plan sponsors are capable of tracking their specialty drug spend, according to a survey by the U.S.-based Pharmacy Benefit Management Institute (PBMI).
Steve Moffatt, senior vice-president of sales and marketing with Green Shield Canada, questioned plan sponsors’ ongoing tendency to have their drug plans provide full coverage in today’s financially constrained landscape.
Equitable Life of Canada has launched a new drug plan management tool kit, designed to help employers to better understand their drug plan risks and implement solutions to those risks.
Five years ago, Halifax Professional Firefighters took a big step with their benefits plan when they chose to begin actively managing the plan themselves.
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.
A proposal for longer market monopolies by brand names could put a dent in generics savings, according to an analysis of Canadian retail prescription drug sales by the Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical Association (CGPA).
When Shoppers Drug Mart (SDM) set out to review its benefits program in 2009, it quickly became apparent that the company had a galvanizing opportunity to do something that had never been done before.
With public payers across the country acknowledging the value of pharmacy by expanding scopes of practice and funding more services, there are opportunities for drug plan sponsors to capitalize on pharmacists’ expertise to better manage spending and improve health outcomes.
Sun Life Financial has signed a strategic alliance with Reformulary Group Incorporated to develop a new drug plan for employers.