The issue of benefits changes at some Tim Hortons outlets in response to Ontario’s boost to the minimum wage to $14 per hour is a complex one. On the one hand, the level of outrage at a decision by some Tim Hortons locations to cut employee benefits wasn’t a surprise. The move by two locations […]
The hepatitis C hump is over. Since 2014, Health Canada has approved several promising medications for the disease. While the direct-acting antivirals offer cure rates of more than 90 per cent, they cost tens of thousands of dollars, and benefits plans felt the pinch. But now, “after an initial spike in treatment requests, claims have […]
Some 223 Toronto Transit Commission employees have been dismissed or have resigned or retired to avoid dismissal as part of an ongoing investigation into benefits fraud, the organization has announced. The TTC began investigating its benefits claims in 2014 following a tip that suggested service provider Healthy Fit Inc. was providing receipts to TTC employees with inflated […]
British Columbia is expanding treatment coverage for chronic hepatitis C to everyone in the province and has added a new drug to the province’s PharmaCare formulary. “In years past, a hepatitis C diagnosis was a stressful and lifelong struggle,” said Health Minister Adrian Dix, in a news release. “I’m pleased to share that, as of today, anyone […]
Sun Life Financial Canada is adding virtual health-care services to its group and individual insurance plans. Its virtual care referral networking will initially include three third-party providers: Toronto-based mobile health-care platform Akira Medical Ltd.; Montreal-based virtual health-care provider Equinoxe LifeCare; and online doctor, health and prescription company Maple Corp. Read: A look at video health-care visits as an option for […]
Global health service provider Cigna Corp. is acquiring Express Scripts Holding Co. in a deal valued at $67 billion. The stock and cash transaction includes Cigna’s assumption of about $15 billion in debt held by Express Scripts. Upon closing, Cigna shareholders will own about 64 per cent of the combined company and Express Scripts shareholders will own […]
Green Shield Canada is rolling out a new biosimilar transition program as a pilot project through the first half of 2018, with an aim to extending it to all of its employer clients by the end of the year. The program, which was designed to help plan members transition from an originator drug to a corresponding biosimilar, will initially focus […]
More than three-quarters (78 per cent) of American employers believe their employees are satisfied with the current benefits offering, but just 52 per cent of employees report being satisfied, according to a survey by business research organization LIMRA. When broken down by generation, the survey, which polled more than 1,000 U.S. employers and 2,500 employees, found generation X employees are […]
As the workplace undergoes rapid transformation amid automation and technological advancements, plan sponsors will need to re-imagine the crossroads between new technology and employee benefits. The issues will be a key focus of panel discussion at Benefits Canada’s 2018 Benefits and Pension Summit on April 16, 2018, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Toronto. “I think what we’re trying to […]
B.C. plan sponsors will have lots of questions to consider as the provincial government prepares to introduce a new employer health tax. “It’s going to be interesting, because the employers, obviously, are going to be looking at that employer health tax as a cost of doing business,” says Avinash Maniram, a partner and senior consultant at PBI […]