In many workplace drug plans, medications that treat certain conditions remain in the optional life category, but is this structure still valid today? The optional life category has traditionally been referred to as “lifestyle,” said Rob Taylor, executive vice-president at TRG Group Benefits and Pensions Inc., a division of Hub International Ltd., during a panel […]
Everyone is talking about cognitive behavioural therapy, but do most people understand it? It’s important for plan sponsors to fully understand what they’re paying for when they decide to provide mental-health benefits, said Peter Gove, innovation leader in health management at Green Shield Canada, in a session at Benefits Canada‘s 2019 Vancouver Benefits Summit at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel […]
If the Canadian government wants to tackle drug coverage, it should focus on the areas where Canadians are facing genuine gaps, according to Joe Farago, executive director of health-care innovation at Innovative Medicines Canada. “The reality is only 1.8 per cent of Canadians have no form of private or public drug coverage,” said Farago, speaking at Benefits […]
Inflammatory conditions have the power to severely affect employees’ productivity and general quality of life. But new biologic treatments are raising the success rates for sufferers, according to Aaron Sihota, primary care pharmacist and clinical instructor at the University of British Columbia’s faculty of pharmaceutical sciences, at Benefits Canada’s 2019 Vancouver Benefits Summit at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel on May 24. “Why […]
If the Canadian government wants to tackle drug coverage, it should focus on the areas where Canadians are facing genuine gaps, according to Joe Farago, executive director of health-care innovation at Innovative Medicines Canada. “The reality is only 1.8 per cent of Canadians have no form of private or public drug coverage,” said Farago, speaking at Benefits […]
Getting a sense of what industry peers are doing and what they think of the plan’s work was an important reason why the College of Applied Arts and Technology pension plan entered Benefits Canada‘s 2018 Workplace Benefits Awards, according Derek Dobson, its president and plan manager. “It’s always good to get industry and peer feedback,” he says. “Every […]
Since standard banks began to shy away from their traditional financing role after the 2008 financial crisis, institutional investors have helped maintain markets by becoming increasingly important providers of long-term capital. Historically low interest rates also pushed these sovereign wealth and pension funds away from the traditional fixed income bedrock of their portfolios into a bevy […]
Last spring, U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted that trade wars are easy to win. Last Friday, however, he tweeted the U.S. and China have really been in a trade war for the past three decades. Either way, tensions don’t seem about to diminish any time soon. So what do the latest skirmishes mean for institutional […]
Benefits plans tackle everything from retirement to rheumatoid arthritis, but should they help employees cross items off their bucket lists, too? In her research, Erica Pearson, co-founder and chief executive officer of Vacation Fund Inc., says usually about 50 per cent of people indicated they don’t have the budget to take vacation and 50 per cent […]
Sun Life has launched a three-month pilot project to test virtual independent medical exams, recognizing that when people are facing a mental-health issue, it can be challenging to schedule an in-person appointment and find the right care. In addition, the pilot was meant to mitigate the problems of wait times to see a mental-health professional, as well […]