Global benefits costs are projected to increase by 10.4 per cent in 2025, according to a new survey by WTW. The survey, which polled nearly 350 insurers, found in North America, costs are projected to rise to 8.7 per cent in 2025, up from 8.1 per cent in 2024. In the U.S., insurers projected a […]
Peel Region’s extensive collection of data and strong results led to a win in the Mental Health Program category for employers with more than 1,000 employees at Benefits Canada’s 2024 Workplace Benefits Awards on Oct. 18. In 2019, Peel Region developed a psychological health and safety framework — the Me-We-Us Framework — and committed to adopting the Canadian […]
The insurance company’s vice-president and head of human resources discusses embracing artificial intelligence and taking time to sit back, relax and connect with family. Q: What top challenges do you face in your role? A: A core part of my role is ensuring Manulife Canada is constantly evolving and continually looking for different ways to […]
The 2024 Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey highlighted the perfect storm plan sponsors are facing: trying to strike the right balance between competitive benefits and plan sustainability. It’s something that resonates with the benefits leads of three major Canadian employers, who said during Benefits Canada’s report launch event that benefits utilization and meeting the needs of a […]
Canadian benefits plan sponsors are increasingly seeking to balance providing competitive benefits against plan sustainability issues, said expert panellists during the launch event for the 2024 Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey last week. Andrea Belvedere (pictured right), assistant vice-president of health benefits and solutions at Sun Life, said plan sponsors are starting to ask more questions […]
When Jennifer Young, a global human resources business solutions consultant at Manulife Financial Corp., found out she was expecting her first child in 2021, she thought the coronavirus pandemic would pose the biggest challenge to a healthy pregnancy. But, like many parents, her journey into motherhood ended up requiring a circle of care dependent on […]
U.S. employers are projecting health benefits costs to increase by eight per cent for 2025, up from seven per cent in 2023, according to a new survey by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans. It found employers cited several factors in rising costs, including catastrophic claims (20 per cent, up from 19 per cent […]
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 […]
While three-quarters (76 per cent) of U.S. employers say they provide coverage of glucagon-like peptide-1 drugs for diabetes management, about a quarter (27 per cent) provide coverage of these drugs for weight loss, according to a new survey by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans. The survey, which polled more than 200 U.S. benefits […]
Half (51 per cent) of plan members say the coverage levels of at least one of their health benefits limit their ability to seek necessary treatment, jumping to 84 per cent among those with a major injury in the past 12 months, according to the 2023 Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey. It found this percentage increased […]