Ontario’s New Democratic Party’s election platform includes universal dental care, mental-health care and pharmacare. Following the agreement reached between the federal Liberals and NDP in late March, the provincial NDP will lead the way on the program, working with the federal government to “strengthen and accelerate the expansion of dental care,” according to the platform that […]
A majority (92 per cent) of Canadian employees feel they’re at risk of experiencing burnout as the coronavirus pandemic drags on, according to a new survey by Mercer. The survey, which polled 11,000 employers and employees from 16 countries, found 59 per cent of employer respondents are concerned about high employee sickness/absence rates and remote […]
With the federal government’s 2022 budget proposing to allow expenses related to fertility and surrogacy to be claimed by a wider range of individuals under the medical expense tax credit, will the move lead to increased coverage under workplace benefits plans? The government’s proposal would expand the definition of a patient to include the taxpayer, […]
The United Way British Columbia and the union representing the organization’s employees have reached an agreement to increase extended mental-health coverage. The coverage, which has been increased to a combined maximum of $1,200 per person annually, can be used to access psychologists, registered clinical counsellors, social workers and online cognitive behavioural therapists, according to a press […]
A third (33 per cent) of Canadians say their employer doesn’t offer workplace addiction support programs, according to LifeWorks Inc.’s latest mental-health index. The survey, which polled 3,000 working Canadians, found the overall mental-health score rose very slightly in March to negative 10.5 points from negative 10.6 in February. However, those without workplace addiction support […]
An announcement regarding long-awaited amendments to the Patented Medicines Review Board regulations was the most-read story on BenefitsCanada.com over the last week. Here are the five most popular news stories of the week: 1. PMPRB drug pricing regulations officially coming into effect this July 2. Key stakeholders highlighting value of private payer health care amid plans for […]
As the coronavirus pandemic continues, 96 per cent of U.S. employers say their employees are stressed out, with 58 per cent saying they’re “somewhat” stressed out and 38 per cent saying they’re “very” stressed out, according to a new survey by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans. In addition, 88 per cent said the […]
Using a real-time benefits scoring tool, Targeted Strategies Group is making changes to its benefits plan to enhance its employee value proposition amid a tight labour market. Since 2017, the insurance brokerage firm, which has 142 employees, has used CloudAdvisors’ benefits ranking tool to gauge whether it’s accomplishing the goals it’s set out to achieve […]
After multiple delays, the amendments to the Patented Medicines Review Board regulations will finally come into force on July 1, 2022. Last week, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos announced the federal government will proceed with the amendments to provide the PMPRB with new tools to protect Canadians from excessive prices for patented medicines. “This will improve access for […]
Amid plans by the federal government to introduce national dental and pharmacare programs, key stakeholders in the private payer health-care sector should highlight the value of private health plans in Canada, according to a panel during a webinar by the Group Insurance Pharmaceutical Committee last week. In March, the Liberal Party and the New Democratic […]