During an employee’s gender transition, virtually every workplace benefit can come into play, including drug coverage, employee assistance programs, flexible working options, mental-health programs and diversity initiatives. For Tamara Hansen, a delivery manager specialist at Scotiabank, coming out as transgender after more than three decades with her employer has been an emotional journey. “I get […]
With a baby due in March, Ashley Bangsund and her partner Nick Goodall didn’t think twice about whether to take the traditional 12 months of employment insurance parental benefits or opt for the new 18-month extended version introduced by the federal government in December 2017. “The longer leave feels too long to go with a […]
Allstate Benefits is rolling out its critical illness coverage with medical care support services for Canadian employers and employees. When a plan member is diagnosed with a covered critical illness, they receive a cash benefit based on the percentage payable for that condition. The cash benefit can be used for any example; for instance, to cover […]
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. is appointing Melanie Jeannotte as the national president of its benefits services group in Canada. Prior to the new role, Jeannotte was area president of Western Canada for Gallagher’s benefits and human resources consulting practice. She also spent eight years as a managing partner at Vital Benefits Inc. in Calgary. […]
The tentative agreement reached by the Canadian National Railway Co. and the United Steelworkers union has been approved by a national ratification vote. In addition to wage increases each year of five-year agreement, it includes improved medical, dental and health-care benefits, as well as enhanced travel allowances for the 3,000 union members who inspect, maintain […]
While the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association is in agreement with the general intent of the Ontario government’s proposed changes to the OHIP+ program, it’s strongly encouraging a number of considerations to preserve the revised program as planned and avoid unintended consequences. The proposed amendments would roll back the OHIP+ program, which was introduced […]
The Ontario government is proposing a rollback of OHIP+, which would restrict the free prescription drug coverage program to dependants under age 25 who aren’t covered by private plans. The previous Liberal government implemented the program in January 2018 with an estimated cost of $465 million annually. It covered all OHIP-insured dependants under age 25 […]
The union representing Canadian National Railway mechanics, electricians and apprentices in Canada says workers have ratified a new collective agreement that will provide improvements to extended health-care and dental benefits. Unifor says the deal for 2,100 employees with Local 100 represents a breakthrough in improvements to benefits at the country’s largest railway. It says improvements were […]
Not all chiropractors practice according to the same philosophy. This is leading some in the benefits industry to believe more scrutiny is necessary when it comes to paramedical expenses and determining whether they’re being used for evidence-based treatments. A recent article in the Globe and Mail highlighted a divide within the chiropractic profession between those who practice evidence-based treatments and those […]
Something interesting happened this month as we examined the 2018 experience of two different plan sponsors in two separate geographies with different demographics. The only similarity between the plans is they both have 80,000 or more individual claimants on their drug plan annually. At the same time last year, we completed a series of predictive analytics on […]