According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information’s National Health Expenditure Trends report, private insurance and out-of-pocket expenses for healthcare in Canada reached an estimated $56.6 billion in 2010. Given this, it’s no wonder more and more plan sponsors are cost-conscious and turning to their plan providers for help. “These days, we expect our relationship […]
Mental illness accounts for about 30% of disability claims at Western, making it an important issue in the school’s quest to provide a safe and secure environment for the almost 40,000 faculty, support staff and students in its community. This is why the university implemented the mental health first aid (MHFA) training program, which teaches […]
Ontario’s Pay Equity Office (PEO) has requested information from private sector employers in an effort to assess the effectiveness of legislation to close the gender wage gap. According to Towers Watson, the PEO has asked “key” employers for information on respective pay, salary range, length of service and gender designation of jobs in their organizations. […]
FitFeud has launched a new software system that allows corporate wellness managers to analyze the effectiveness of enterprise weight loss competitions. The company’s analytics dashboard centralizes all of the most needed analytics, competition performance data and activity updates. The dashboard provides information on total weight loss, segments competitors based on body mass index (BMI) into […]
Approaching retirement can be an emotional time for some employees. Add to that the prospect of reduced or even the total elimination of health benefits, and boomers can be forgiven for reluctantly starting life as retiree. What is the current environment like for plan sponsors who do believe there is a moral obligation to at […]
Public service and education retirees in Quebec now have access to supplemental prescription drug insurance offered by RAMQ with the additional health insurance plan 3997 offered by AQRP in partnership with La Capitale assurance et gestion du patrimoine. The plan includes several prescription drugs not reimbursed by RAMQ, as well as the reimbursement of a […]
Companies could help lessen the impact of financial hardship on employees’ health and wellbeing by offering loans to help them combat their debts, according to Charles Cotton, performance and reward advisor with the U.K.’s Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. A recent Standard Life survey of 250 employers revealed that 80% feel responsible for the […]
Take the opportunity to spread the word about about your employee benefits today—it’s National Employee Benefits Day. April 4, 2011 marks the seventh annual celebration of this day. Spearheaded by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, today provides an opportunity for anyone with employee benefit responsibilities, including trustees, administrators, practitioners and professional advisors, to […]
While most plan sponsors have emergency medical travel insurance as part of their group insurance plan not everyone is aware of what exclusions could deny coverage for an insured individual. It is important that plan sponsors have a thorough knowledge of the details of their travel coverage and that the information is communicated to the […]
Visa Canada and Great-West Life have teamed up to give Canadian plan members a simplified way to use their health benefits with a new benefits payment card. The card, called the Health SolutionsPlus Visa payment card, will allow point-of-sale access to a group plan member’s available healthcare spending account (HCSA) balance. The card will reduce […]