Treatment for mental health isn’t effectively covered by public health systems, which means care for chronic disease management and mental health — by and large — falls into the lap of employers and employees, according to Adam Kelly, CloudMD’s executive vice-president and chief commercial officer, speaking at Benefits Canada’s 2022 Mental Health Summit. Organizations are […]
Employers planning to incentivize non-smoking employees should align these perks with a broader health and well-being strategy and ensure the rewards are significant enough to make behaviour change appealing for smokers, says Kim Siddall, vice-president of enterprise consulting for the West at People Corporation. Possible incentives include additional vacation time, increased credits in a health-care […]
As the coronavirus crisis enters an endemic phase, employers are beginning to see a return to pre-pandemic levels in paramedical benefits’ usage. During the first eight months of the pandemic, many plan members put off paramedical appointments because they were uncomfortable with non-essential, in-person interactions. In addition, many paramedical services were unavailable due to restrictions […]
The Saskatchewan Court of King’s Bench has held the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority liable for more than $1.2 million in long-term disability benefits owed to a former employee whose benefits were cut off when he was fired and became permanently disabled during the notice period. “This case illustrates the massive risk that an employer takes […]
Eight in 10 (80 per cent) small- and medium-sized employers in Eastern Canada say they don’t provide employee benefits, according to a new survey for Medavie Blue Cross by Abacus Data. The survey, which polled SMEs and SME workers in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada, found a third (35 per cent) of SMEs that don’t […]
A majority of plan sponsors (80 per cent) and plan members (77 per cent) described the quality of their health benefits plans as excellent or good, according to the 2022 Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey. Employers with 500 or more employees (86 per cent) were more likely than those with fewer than 50 employees (72 per […]
Canadian life and health insurers processed nearly $600 million in claims related to mental health in 2021, up 45 per cent since 2020 and 75 per cent since 2019, according to the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association’s annual fact book. “2021 was a year of recovery and insurers have been proud partners helping employers […]
The union representing employees at Glencore’s Raglan Mine in Nunavik, Que. has ratified an agreement that includes benefits gains and increases in paid disability leave. Nearly two-thirds (61 per cent) of the members of United Steelworkers Local 9449 voted in favour of the five-year agreement, which includes short-term disability coverage of 70 per cent of […]
After living through a prolonged global pandemic, Canadian benefits plan sponsors are facing a professional environment that’s almost unrecognizable to pre-2020 years. The coronavirus pandemic affected employees at a personal level and is also being felt by employers and their workplace benefits plans, said Jason Kennedy, general manager of virtual pharmacy for TELUS Health, during […]
A recent court ruling that awarded a plaintiff $1.5 million in punitive damages against the Blue Cross Life Insurance Co. of Canada — in connection with its more than six-year denial of long-term disability benefits — could result in increased costs for employer-sponsored benefits plans. “If this sets a precedent, then higher awards will be […]