When considering whether to cover Wegovy, an obesity medication, it’s important for plan sponsors to weigh increased short-term costs with long-term savings, while considering alternative treatments that are also available, says Philippe Laplante, a principal at Eckler Ltd. Plan sponsors that decide to cover Wegovy, which launched in Canada last month, could see a significant cost […]
The union representing more than 600 employees at GreenShield Canada in Toronto and Windsor, Ont. has ratified a three-year collective agreement that includes pension and benefits gains, ending a strike that began on March 1. The agreement includes a $1.50 increase to the defined benefit pension plan for each year, bringing employees from a $71 […]
More than half (54 per cent) of Canadian benefits plan members currently live with at least one diagnosed chronic health condition, according to the 2023 Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey. It found the top current diagnoses were a mental-health condition such as depression or anxiety (18 per cent), high cholesterol (12 per cent), arthritis (12 per […]
On May 12, Benefits Canada hosted a webinar to discuss the pharmaceutical industry’s efforts during the coronavirus crisis, as well as some key policy issues for Canadian insurers and their potential impact from the private-payer perspective. Since the end of April, 139 coronavirus treatments have been under investigation and Health Canada has approved several clinical trials […]
Almost all employers offer paramedical benefits for psychology and many are adopting programs to support employee mental health, according to a new survey by Aon. Canadian employers are increasingly realizing the individual and business risks that arise from mental-health issues. “While fewer than half of the employers we talked to identified mental health as a serious […]