Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER June 12, 2017 FEATURES 25 RECRUITING FINANCIAL PROFESSIONALS? O er positions to over 200,000 Members Highly targeted advertising Immediate matching resume database access FOR MORE INFORMATION, cpacanada.ca/CPASource TELEPHONE•416 204 3284•EMAIL•TGardiner@cpacanada.ca 14-126a_EN_CPAsource_fullpagead_9.625x7.indd 1 1/5/2016 3:24:31 PM BENEFITS Sustaining benefit plans Why do traditional organizational approaches to plan management no longer work? By Anthea Gomez F or a business to stay prof- itable and thrive, its main ingredient is an engaged and talented workforce. Com- pared to 20 years ago, the cost of remaining competitive and holding onto a talented pool of professionals is only increasing. But employer-sponsored group benefits plans are facing greater strain as Canadians work longer — meaning they may be exposed to more health issues — and younger generations seek flexible and increased health coverage. Prescription drug plans are the most highly valued benefit, more so than an increase in salary. Most Canadians prefer their benefits to $20,000 in cash, according to the 2011 Sanofi Canada Healthcare Survey of 1,598 primary holders of group health benefit plans. However, employers are in- creasingly looking at ways to control costs when it comes to employee drug plans, and some are looking at solutions that pass rising costs along to employees. "Employers are feeling finan- cially strapped, and for good rea- son," says John Herbert, director of strategy, product development and clinical services at Express Scripts Canada (ESC) in Missis- sauga, Ont., a provider of health benefits management services. "Employee benefit plans are part of the Canadian working landscape. To stay competitive, companies need to manage their operating costs, and also recog- nize the value of benefits coverage in keeping their talent satisfied, so that they can be productive and healthy on the job." Offering the right benefits that employees value translates into a workforce that misses less work, is more inclined to stay with the company longer, and has a higher commitment to delivering on their company's goals, says Pris- cilla Po, ESC's senior manager of clinical services and drug plan management. e realities of the drug plan landscape Canadian employers spend more on prescription drug coverage than any other benefit, and that's not changing anytime soon, ac- cording to the 2015 study Reform- ing Private Drug Coverage in Can- ada: Inefficient Drug Benefit De- sign and the Barriers to Change in Unionized Settings from research- ers at Carleton University in Ot- tawa, the University of Victoria and the Université de Montréal. Drug spending by the private sector doubled from $8.8 billion in 2003 to $17.6 billion in 2015, ac- cording to the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). Not surprisingly, 70 per cent of employers were concerned about the sustainability of their drug plan, according to a 2014 Sanofi study involving 1,502 primary holders of group health benefit plans. "Spending on high-cost drugs (those used to treat complex, chronic conditions such as hepati- tis C and cancer) has grown from 13 per cent of total drug spending in 2007 to 30 per cent in 2016," says Herbert. "Employees are consuming a large portion of their total pre- scription drug spending on high- cost specialty medications, and employers are feeling the pinch because specialty drug spending is on track to reach 40 per cent of total drug spending by 2022, threatening overall employee plan sustainability." And 59 per cent of employees require medication for one or more chronic conditions, such as high blood pressure (21 per cent), mental illness (19 per cent) and arthritis (17 per cent), according to a 2016 Sanofi Canada Health- care Survey involving 1,500 pri- mary holders of group health benefit plans. It's not surprising the aging workforce does require more care. Further, 14 per cent of plan members account for 72 per cent of total plan spending, according to the 2016 ESC Drug Trend Report. Innovative solutions are re- quired to help these members make better decisions to man- age their overall cost and overall health. Cost-containment measures The good news for employers is there are ways to protect the employee drug benefit that both foster sustainability and are ad- vantageous to employee health and productivity. "With the economic challenges that companies face, you can basi- cally strip it down to the basics of patient engagement and influenc- ing better decisions to drive lower costs and healthier outcomes," says Herbert. Credit: photastic (Shutterstock) LEVERAGE > pg. 28

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