At 11.59%, the overall average health trend factor will continue in the same range this year as it has for the last four years, says the 2015 Accompass Guide to Health and Dental Trends, which polled nine insurers.
Saskatchewan, British Columbia, and Manitoba have all announced that they are adding new generation hepatitis C drug Holkira Pak, to their respective formularies, which also include hep C drugs Harvoni and Sovaldi, says Accompass.
It’s interesting to watch how product and service development, and the marketing of these offerings, takes place in the group benefits industry. Products and services routinely seem to be developed based on perceived need and often don’t appear to have been thoroughly vetted by the end customer: plan sponsors. Once an offering is released into the market, there seems to be a subsequent rush of competitors looking to bring similar offerings to bear primarily to make sure they can check off the same capabilities boxes, as opposed to focusing on actual need and approach.
With a stream of new biologics coming to market, a wide variety of programs and services are available to support patients taking these high-cost specialty drugs. A panel discussion moderated by Michael McClenahan, CEO of Benefits by Design, explored the pros and cons of these new programs and their impact on private drug plans.
David Willows, vice-president, strategic market solutions, with Green Shield Canada (GSC), shared findings from GSC’s 2014 health study. As he explained, this was the first time the annual study went beyond just drugs to create a bigger picture of employer-sponsored health benefits consumption in Canada. Drawing on a database containing millions of health claims, the study breaks down the volume and cost of claims for drug and paramedical health benefits consumed by Canadians in age bands ranging from birth to retirement.
Year after year, the drug plan industry studies trends in utilization and costs with an eye on what’s coming next.
The future of medicine will be data-driven and focused on creating personalized medicine for each patient based on their individual molecular profile, according to a paper by The Personalized Medicine Initiative and PwC Canada.
Moving to a publicly-funded, single-payer system for prescription drugs could save Canada billions of dollars, finds a study by The Mowat Centre.
Genetic testing can significantly improve treatment strategies, but it also raises issues for plan sponsors and members
Maneuvering through treatment plans can be challenging for plan members who are both managing a chronic health condition and have been prescribed a specialty biologic drug. Accessing and administering the drug and dealing with layers of approvals and coverage can seem confusing and arduous in the beginning.