By now, the economic burden of chronic disease in Canada has most likely surpassed $200 billion, according to Sarah Lussier Hoskyn, senior analyst, regulatory affairs and market access at Innovative Medicines Canada. “When you think about the total health-care budget in this country, we spent $250 billion in 2017 alone,” Lussier Hoskyn said during a session […]
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 […]
An expert panel is calling for the federal government to work with the provinces and territories to create a single-payer public pharmacare program. Eric Hoskins, Ontario’s former health minister, released the findings in Ottawa on Wednesday, noting the recommendations aim to address the country’s patchwork of private and public prescription drug plans. The council is recommending […]
While just half (49 per cent) of plan members said changes were made to their benefits plan in the past two years, 72 per cent of plan sponsors reported they made changes, according to the 2019 Sanofi Canada health-care survey. More than half (51 per cent) of members said they didn’t know of any changes to their […]