“Even though it is a policy that applies only to public plan claims, it appears that private plans are following suit,” said Shawn O’Brien, Principal, Data Enablement and HBM Product, TELUS Health, while presenting the Data Trends and National Benchmarks Retrospective 2020 report during day one of the TELUS Health annual conference on April 20.

B.C.’s pharmacare program likely motivated private drug plans to adopt its own switching policy, to avoid having to take on the full cost of a reference biologic for patients who turn to their private plan for coverage.

Changes in prescribing behaviour is another important factor behind biosimilars’ growing share of the private claims for biologics. “The public initiative in B.C. has influenced physician prescribing habits for all patients, and we can likely expect the same result in other provinces as other public payers implement switching policies,” noted O’Brien in a separate interview with the TELUS Health Benefits Hub.

Interestingly, a ripple effect already appears to have begun in the rest of Canada, as biosimilars’ share of eligible costs in private drug plans increased to 11% by the end of 2019 (from 8% in May) and 13% by the end of 2020, reported O’Brien at the conference.

Read Full Article: B.C.’s biosimilars policy a turning point for private plans.

Article provided by: Telus Health – 02 June 2021

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Calling the move a “long overdue step forward,” he explained that 240,000 families will no longer have to decide between paying for medical needs or basic necessities such as food or shelter, reported CBC News.

Under a new three-year, $105-million program that took effect on January 1, families with net annual incomes of $30,000 or less will no longer have to pay a deductible for prescription drugs. Prior to the program’s implementation, families with net earnings between $15,000 and $30,000 would have to pay $300 to $600 in deductibles before they could get drug coverage assistance.

Changes to the province’s program have also meant reduced deductibles for households that fall within the $30,000-$45,000 income category. For low-income seniors and the province’s poorest households, with incomes of less than $14,000, certain payments have also been wiped out.

“Previously, even a family earning just over $11,000 annually was required to spend $200 on prescriptions before Pharmacare would begin picking up the tab,” reported CBC News.

Read Full Article: BC lifts prescription-drug deductibles for low-income residents

Article provided by: Life Health Professional – by Leo Almazora – 09 Jan 2019

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According to the firm’s 2018 Benefits Strategy & Benchmarking Survey – Canada Edition, 64% of Canadian employers don’t have an effective strategy for managing healthcare expenses, and almost none employed advanced tactics to cut prescription-drug costs.

“Because we are in a tight labour market, organizations understand the importance of offering competitive benefit packages,” said Leslie Lemenager, head of Gallagher’s Canadian employee benefit consulting operations. “But today’s workforce encompasses five generations, and each wants a benefits package that addresses their own individual set of needs.”

Among 468 employers surveyed, 55% identified high prescription costs as a top cost management challenge; 64% cut costs by mandating generic or least-cost alternative products. But the study also found that just 5% use expense-management tactics such as step therapy, streamlining the supply chain, or mail-order options, all of which could significantly decrease drug expenses.

Read Full Article: Managing healthcare costs an unmet challenge for most Canadian employers

Article provided by: Life Health Professional – by Leo Almazora – 19 Dec 2018

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Employers also reported they intend to apply predictive analytics (50 per cent), incentive tools and tracking (44 per cent), a comprehensive portal (59 per cent) and decision support tools (53 per cent) to their benefits programs. Today, organizations have more insight on how to promote wellness because they can easily collect and interpret data through technology, says Ruth Hunt, a principal in the engagement practice at Buck. Indeed, the survey found an increase in confidence among employers, with 40 per cent reporting they’ve achieved a culture of well-being in 2018, compared to 33 per cent in 2016.

Read Full Article: Technology influencing the future of wellness benefits_ survey

Article provided by: Jann Lee from Benefits Canada | December 10, 2018

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