Spending on prescription drugs is expected to total $33.7 billion in 2018, according to a new report by the Canadian Institute for Health Information. Of that total, $19.3 billion will come from private insurance and individuals paying out of pocket, while the remaining $14.4 billion will be financed by the public sector. As a whole, drug spending […]
Some 731,000 Canadians borrow money to pay for drugs prescribed by their doctors, according to new research by the University of British Columbia. The research, which used data from a 2016 Statistics Canada survey, found 2.5 per cent of respondents said they have to borrow money for prescriptions. Canadians between the ages of 19 and 34 were 3.5-times […]
About a quarter (28 per cent) of American employers made changes to their employee health-care benefits in 2018, according to a new survey by the Transamerica Center for Health Studies. The survey, which polled 1,350 U.S. business decision-makers, found the most common changes were to health insurance (36 per cent) or the addition of other health-care benefits […]
A national doctors’ group is raising concerns about the Ontario government’s move to allow employers to require workers to provide a doctor’s note to explain even minor illnesses, such as the common cold. Canadian Medical Association president Dr. Gigi Osler says the measure, included in the government’s Bill 47, could cause public health issues, as […]
Green Shield Canada is launching a rating tool that allows plan members to search ratings when looking for a pharmacy. Through the insurer’s app, members can access the rating tool to measure a pharmacy’s health outcomes. The five-star system bases its ratings on the promotion of good adherence to drug therapy, care for chronic disease and the safe dispensing […]
The Canadian Dental Association read with interest your Oct. 12, 2018, article titled, A look at the drivers for curbing rising dental costs. The CDA and every provincial dental association in Canada are concerned with the cost of dentistry. Each year, provincial dental associations develop fee guides that balance the cost of care with dental fees, knowing […]
Virtual health-care platform Dialogue is acquiring DXA Inc., a triage, medical charting and diagnosis technology company. DXA’s artificial intelligence-powered platform, which replicates how an emergency room doctor thinks, has been added to Dialogue’s platform. It can be used in doctor-patient interactions ranging from primary to chronic and specialized care. Read: New virtual health-care program aims to save employee […]
The 2018 Calgary Drug Trends Summit shone a spotlight on a wide range of trends, from new advances in drug and lifestyle therapies to the impact of cannabis legalization on benefits coverage to drug plan cost management. Here are some of the highlights of the sessions: A look at pharmacist-led deprescribing using therapeutic nutrition intervention Achieving radiant […]
Minna Fein-Leenen was living a happy, healthy life until 2011 when she developed atopic dermatitis, a chronic inflammatory skin disease. “It was devastating. I thought I was losing my mind,” the Ottawa resident told delegates at the 2018 Calgary Drug Trends Summit on Oct. 25. “The intensity of the itching can only be described as […]
The recent legalization of recreational cannabis in Canada has brought up a lot of new questions for employers, according to one expert. “Now that we’re past legalization, this is a great time to revisit the conversation on benefits coverage. It’s important to have that conversation, rather than delaying it,” said Jonathan Zaid, director of advocacy and corporate […]