Purolator Inc. is adapting its benefits plan to proactively respond to employees’ mental-health needs amid the coronavirus pandemic. The company has expanded both the dollar value and scope of its mental-health benefits offering, including access to cognitive behavioural therapy and social workers, says Anna Manocchio, senior director of total rewards and human resources technology at […]
Johnston Group is partnering with PocketPills to provide a digital pharmacy platform. Plan members can access a pharmacist seven days a week by live chat or text message via the platform. “This partnership . . . continues to provide members truly flexible . . . benefits solutions in an ever-growing virtual world,” said Dave Angus, […]
Innovative technology to monitor glucose levels for patients with diabetes offers improved health outcomes, reduced absenteeism and improved productivity, said Rick Siemens, certified diabetes educator pharmacist, during a webinar in June hosted by Benefits Canada and sponsored by Dexcom. The roles of pharmacists in Canada are evolving. Siemens said he spends most of his time […]
Group Health Group Holdings Inc. is acquiring a minority interest in CDAT Software Inc., the British Columbia-based maker of Oliver benefits administration software. In June, GroupHEALTH acquired a 75 per cent stake in Canadian Benefits Investment & Insurance Group Inc., a B.C.-based provider of group benefits and wealth management services. And in March, Germany-based Munich Re announced […]
The Canada Life Assurance Co. is acquiring ClaimSecure Inc., a health-care management firm that provides health and dental claim management services. The acquisition increases the number of plan members served by Canada Life by 1.25 million individuals, including plan members and their dependants, with annual claims payments of more than $1.2 billion, according to a […]
Aon and Willis Towers Watson are confirming the European Commission’s conditional approval of the two companies’ proposed merger. “This is a major step that demonstrates continued progress toward obtaining regulatory clearances for the proposed combination,” said the companies, in a press release. “Both firms operate across broad, competitive areas of the economy and believe this approval affirms […]
The coronavirus pandemic has increased health-care costs in the U.S., while shifting how and where employees access care, according to a new report by PricewaterhouseCoopers. It projected that the costs of medical treatment in the U.S. will increase by 6.5 per cent in 2022, slightly lower than this year (seven per cent). “The pandemic’s long […]
More than 2,000 workers at a Vale nickel mine in Sudbury, Ont., are continuing their strike after their union, United Steelworkers Local 6500, rejected the company’s five-year contract proposal, which cuts health and medical benefits for existing and future employees. The June 14 offer was Vale’s second since the workers went on strike June 1, […]
While there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel with respect to the coronavirus pandemic and the return to normal life, the stress response from such a rapid and necessary shift in lifestyle has had and will continue to have profound impacts on mental health. Before the pandemic, Canada was already […]
Anyone who’s ever run a marathon or completed an endurance race or trek knows the last few miles are the hardest, both physically and mentally. For most Canadians, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has been a marathon of sorts and, although we appear to be getting closer to the end, the finish line keeps moving. While […]