Visits to Christian Science practitioners aren’t an expensive benefit for plans to cover. In the past three years, the University of Manitoba spent exactly zero dollars on it, according to Dave Muir, director of compensation and benefits. In the past six years, McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont., has seen six claims totalling $1,800 throughout its […]
While there has been much discussion of the need to refine the common notion of a 70 per cent replacement rate in retirement, implementing a different approach will take some work, participants at an event in Toronto heard yesterday. The challenge is few defined contribution pension plan members fully understand how their retirement savings work, […]
Canada shouldn’t adopt New Zealand’s national pharmacare system, a new study from the Canadian Health Policy Institute argues. The study by the think-tank examined prices for 248 drugs in nine clinical categories and found 74 per cent were approved for marketing in New Zealand, compared to 90 per cent in Canada. New Zealand also has […]
Most of the growth in the Canadian life and health insurance industry in 2015 came from the pensions and retirement market, the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association noted in its 2016 factbook. The industry manages $131 billion of the $592 billion in employer-based pension plans, which accounts for 70 per cent of small and […]
Last month, pharmaceutical company Mylan made headlines after hiking U.S. EpiPen prices by more than 500 per cent to more than US$600 for a pack of two injectors. So why is Canada, where Pfizer distributes the injectors, still seeing such a single EpiPen sold for $100? “In Canada, medicine prices are regulated,” Manon Genin, a spokesperson for Pfizer […]
British Columbia is providing few details on the status of its consultations on the Canada Pension Plan despite a looming deadline of the end of the summer to decide if it will support changes to the program. While the federal Department of Finance has confirmed the deadline of the end of the summer, B.C. government […]
“It would take me the entire hour to get rid of all the trigger points along your spine,” the massage therapist tells me during a recent visit to a Toronto clinic. I mumble surprise into the face pillow and agree she should focus on the knots in my shoulders. As she kneads, she casually suggests […]
Plan sponsors and provincial governments alike should include the HIV prevention medication PrEP in their formularies, AIDS activists say. Health Canada approved PrEP — a medication also known as pre-exposure prophylaxis and sold under the brand name Truvada — as a preventative measure in February 2016. Prior to that, it had approved the drug as […]
What does it mean for an employer to consider the preferences of a religious group, such as Muslims, in laying out investment options in a defined contribution pension plan? “It’s simply ensuring that their retirement savings are invested in a way that is consistent with Islamic principles,” says Walid Hejazi, an associate professor at the […]
While much of the talk has been about conditions such as hepatitis C, a number of other diseases are likely to start taking a bigger bite out of benefits plans in the coming years. Some of the drugs associated with them can be pricey, but plan sponsors still have time to prepare. 1. Cancer Drug […]