Dan Eisner, Employee Benefits Advisor

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I agree with the problem here but don't understand the proposed solutions. In spite of higher unemployment levels, most of my clients are still having trouble finding "key" talent. However, I am confused as to why employee benefits strategies rank so low in this survey. We know that the vast majority of employees rank employee benefits as key to accepting a job offer, the vast majority value the plans that they have, and also the vast majority actually feel entitled to having them. With all that said, I would suggest moving employee benefits strategies up the list to help deal with the struggle to find, keep and engage key talent. #employeebenefits #benefits #groupbenefits #betterbenefits

So the initial phase of National PharmaCare has passed the Senate. However, only BC has signed on to the deal with the federal government, so there should be some minor savings to BC-based benefits plan sponsors around Diabetes drugs. Time will tell if other provinces sign on or if a future federal election unwinds anything here. #employeebenefits #benefits #groupbenefits #betterbenefits

Please see below for a great article put together by my colleague, Fab Biagini, to recognize World Mental Health Day. It is definitely worthwhile reading to learn about some practical steps to support mental health in the workplace. #employeebenefits #benefits #groupbenefits #betterbenefits

As anybody working in the employee benefits industry knows, the still relatively new class of medications known as GLP-1 drugs, initially developed to treat Type 2 Diabetes and now used for weight loss, have hit the market with an explosion. So why are insurers waiting to add anti-obesity drugs? #DanEisner #BetterBenefits #BenefitsAdvisor #Benefits #EmployeeBenefits⁠⁠ #InsuranceInsights

We have gained a greater understanding of anti-obesity drugs and have made progress in reducing the stigma associated with them. However, there is a slow pace within the Canadian insurance industry in providing access to these drugs for individuals. #DanEisner #BetterBenefits #BenefitsAdvisor #Benefits #EmployeeBenefits⁠⁠ #InsuranceInsights

Unfortunately we haven't seen any real opportunities to integrate with the Canada Dental Care Plan for existing dental benefits plan sponsors. The national program is directed to low-income Canadians and thus would only apply to a limited portion of the workforce based on earnings criteria. The national coverage levels are meager and the coinsurance drops as incomes rise. Most significantly, employers would have to effectively drop their entire dental program (and HCSAs) to direct employees to the national plan, which doesn't look very appealing. Lastly, the federal government is still having troubles getting dentists to participate in the program. So let's just agree that the federal government's program is valuable to vulnerable low-income Canadians but there don't appear to be realistic integration opportunities for existing group plans. #employeebenefits #benefits #groupbenefits #betterbenefits

A little strange but not necessarily surprising results here. Of course it is challenging to provide employee benefits given that annual inflation for these programs has outpaced CPI for the past 25 years. However, plan sponsors figure out how to do it and mostly don't reduce their coverage, likely because of the tight labour market and the need to attract key talent. What is surprising is that if 80% find it challenging to manage costs, why did 34% improve their benefits plans over the past year and only 10% reduced their plans? Even more surprising is that 39% intend to control or reduce costs but 39% intend to increase/improve benefits offered? At the end of the day, this is just survey data and you need to work with your advisor to confirm why you offer your employee benefits plan and how you will best manage it. Just my 2 cents here, so let me know what you think. #employeebenefits #benefits #groupbenefits #betterbenefits

In spite of the projected 7% annual inflation for employee benefits plans for 2024, the vast majority of organizations will maintain the status quo, based on survey responses at my recent CPABC course. Only 13% indicated they will make plan design changes to reduce costs and only 6% indicated they would increase employee cost sharing. While not that surprising, it was good to see these results. Organizations indicated that the labour market is too tight, or that they can handle the projected cost increase, or that they will scale back in other areas of their total compensation or total rewards. What do you think? #employeebenefits #benefits #groupbenefits #betterbenefits

These initial results are not that surprising but also a little confusing. Employee benefits inflation has averaged about 6% for the past 25 years and has been around 7-9% over the past couple of years, so of course that is difficult to manage. However, plan sponsors have faced that for many years and have resisted the urge to reduce coverage in order to reduce plan costs. So while many plan sponsors indicated they will be looking to cut benefits, just as many are looking to enhance coverage. So I find this a little confusing and maybe utopic to say that you want to increase coverage and reduce costs. I believe it is more a matter of confirming why you provide benefits and what benefits are most important to attract, retain and engage key talent to successfully run your business and pay for these plans. #employeebenefits #benefits #groupbenefits #betterbenefits