When the coronavirus pandemic hit in March 2020, Fluor Canada was ready with ample mental-health supports for its employees, all thanks to a mental-health strategy the company had put in place years ago and has continued to build on. It began in 2018 when Fluor Canada’s newly appointed senior management team wanted to renew the […]
Benefits plans with a wide range of mental-health supports are taking on new importance as employers look to attract and retain key talent in a tight labour market, said Julie Gaudry, head of group insurance at RBC Insurance Inc., during Benefits Canada’s 2021 Mental Health Summit. One third of Canadian businesses are currently grappling with […]
Since the global coronavirus pandemic prompted a move to remote working, white-collar employees are looking at jurisdictions from Nova Scotia to Bermuda, enticed by a work location that truly fits their lifestyle. And many employers are allowing the option, even post-pandemic, with companies planning out what return to work looks like and how remote work […]
Employers want to offer employee assistance programs and employees want access to them — so why do they tend to be so underused? The average EAP utilization sits at just 11 per cent and just 39 per cent of employees said they’re satisfied with EAP programs, according to the 2016 Sanofi Canada health-care survey. And […]
The growing use of specialty medications among plan members continued to drive the increase in plan sponsors’ drug plan costs last year, well eclipsing the increase in traditional drug spending, according to Telus Health. Canadian plan sponsors’ drug spending on insured plan members between the ages of 25 and 64 increased 3.6 per cent in […]
Last February, Carolyne Eagan’s mother was suddenly stricken with an excruciatingly painful condition called trigeminal neuralgia, which prevented her from eating, talking or drinking without triggering a flare of pain in her head. Eagan gathered up her mom’s medications and got into the ambulance with her, feeling increasingly distressed as she wasn’t able to answer […]
Canadians have weathered two waves of the coronavirus pandemic and are now working their way through the third. But what happens when the fourth wave — of psychological trauma, economic injury and burnout — arrives? One half of Canadians said they’d experienced worsening mental-health challenges during the pandemic, according to an April 2020 poll by […]
“What if I told you at least one in four members of your benefits plan has an unresolved health risk?” asked Radpay, the president of HumanisRx, during Benefits Canada‘s 2021 Tech Insights: Spring Edition conference. In a study in partnership with Munich Re, HumanisRx reviewed the insurer’s claims history experience for 85,000 plan members and […]
The same technology advancements that allowed for hyper-personalized service in sectors from banking to food delivery were already in the process of remaking health-care access and delivery. And then the coronavirus pandemic hit, quickly accelerating the acceptance of digital health care in Canada. Surveys have shown 60 per cent of health-care visits are now taking […]
Plan member challenges — from uncertainty about what their benefits plan covers to mundane issues such as struggling with passwords and difficulty accessing their benefits portal — become human resources concerns and create additional work for plan sponsors. That’s what Canada Life is attempting to address with its new My Canada Life at Work mobile-friendly […]