Member Spotlight: Alberta Blue Cross

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Is your group benefit plan keeping pace with changing times?

According to a recent study by Robert Half Canada, 42 per cent of Canadian employees say they’ve already started looking, or plan to look, for a new job in 2024. 31 per cent of respondents say that's due to looking for better perks and benefits. Offering a comprehensive group benefits plan that is attuned to the needs and interests of your employees is an excellent way for your company to attract and retain top talent and boost productivity, while keeping employees satisfied and engaged.

For employers in Alberta’s high-paced and often physically demanding resource sector, group benefits are a critical tool to support the wellbeing of your workforce by helping your employees stay healthy and productive. Group benefits are also a valuable investment for your business. They are an opportunity to differentiate yourself as an employer and make a tangible, positive impact on the health of your employees. And your return on investing in group benefits is quantifiable through both productivity and retention.

In the rapidly-evolving world of work, have you considered whether your benefit plan is keeping pace with the needs and interests of your employees­—and the needs of your organization? Here are the top priorities in benefit plans today (in no particular order):

1. Mental health

At one time, mental health supports were an afterthought for group plans, providing a benefit that was considered more of a ‘nice to have’. Today in the aftermath of COVID-19, mental health supports have become a top priority for group plans. If supporting the mental health of your employees—whether they are working in the field or in the office—is not a top priority for your company, it needs to be.

According to the Alberta Mental Health Foundation, mental health challenges and illnesses among working adults in Canada cost employers $17 billion a year in lost productivity from absenteeism, presenteeism and turnover. 54 per cent of Canadians report that their mental health has declined over the past the last two years. In 2023, mental health claims accounted for 25 per cent of disability claims among Alberta Blue Cross® group benefit plans. While this was down from 32 per cent in 2022, mental health remains a significant driver of disability claims and benefit plan costs.

While the pandemic had a negative impact on mental health, one of the upsides of the pandemic was the growth in the availability of virtual counselling. Psychology services and counselling services, such as Employee and Family Assistance Programs, are now much more accessible as counselling supports can be delivered literally anywhere, which also makes it much easier to support your employees working in remote locations, such as Northern Alberta.

At the same time, new benefits, such as Internet-based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (iCBT), provide enhanced mental health supports for plan members. iCBT can be used to treat conditions such as anxiety, depression, trauma, insomnia, panic disorder and pain management; and can also offer treatment options for substance use management including alcohol, cannabis, opioids, cocaine and amphetamines.

Destigmatizing mental health challenges through educational and awareness campaigns can help your employees recognize and seek the mental health supports that they need

2. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I)

Creating a more inclusive health benefits plan directly supports your employees’ mental and physical wellbeing. Among the newest benefits many employers are adding to their group plans to honour their commitments to promoting DE&I in the workplace are gender-affirming care and fertility and family planning.

Gender-affirming care benefits help ease the financial burden for transgender, nonbinary or gender diverse employees and their family members by providing coverage for eligible medical procedures that aren't covered by a provincial health insurance plan, such as vocal cord surgery, chest contouring and tracheal shave. At Alberta Blue Cross, our gender-affirming care benefits were developed in partnership with the Trans Wellness Initiative and transgender and gender-diverse people.

Fertility struggles are very common, with an estimated 16 per cent of Canadians experiencing infertility. Fertility and family planning benefits can provide employees and their family members with access to fertility procedures and services, such as in vitro fertilization, artificial insemination and cryopreservation.

3. Wellbeing

After many years of employers taking a ‘program’ approach to wellness, employers are becoming more proactive and taking a holistic approach to promoting wellbeing. According to University of Oxford, Well-being Research Centre, 87 per cent of leaders believe that prioritizing employee health can give their company a competitive advantage and 35 per cent of leaders have made wellbeing a strategic priority.

Employers are also assuming a more active role in employee health—recognizing that preventative interventions can proactively limit the need for more costly treatment. As an example, helping pre-diabetes employees to become more active can help to avoid the need for future long-term prescription drug treatment or disability leaves.

It’s important to recognize, however, that every organization is at a different point on their wellbeing journeys so a one-size-fits-all approach won’t work for most employers. According to the State of work-Life Wellness 2022 Report, 83 per cent of employees believe wellbeing is as important as their salary and 73 per cent would consider leaving their current role to work for a company that focuses on wellbeing.

At Alberta Blue Cross, our wellness advisory services approach is to collaborate with organizations and equip them with the data and drivers they need to integrate wellbeing as a core business strategy, which results in stronger results in accelerated business outcomes driven by increased employee satisfaction, engagement and productivity.

Benefits are also evolving to support wellbeing, with plan options such as virtual care enabling employees to access a physician via the internet from anywhere. This provides convenient and equitable access to care for employees working in remote locations.

4. Ensuring plan sustainability

While more employers are focusing on addressing mental health, DE&I and wellbeing within their benefit plans, it’s important to keep in mind that the core benefits of prescription drugs, extended health and dental coverage are still the most used benefits.

As the largest consumer of dental services in Alberta, Alberta Blue Cross paid more than $550 million in 2023 alone for dental services on behalf of our valued customers. Oral health is a key indicator of overall health and is linked to many other conditions, such as heart disease. With the cost of dental care continuing to rise, taking a managed approach to dental benefits helps to ensure plan viability.

Costs also continue to rise for prescription drugs—both as expensive new treatments come to market and as our aging workforce sees greater utilization of drug products. As an example, Ozempic for diabetes management has zoomed its way over the past year to becoming one of the highest-costing drug products for Alberta Blue Cross employer group benefit plans. As drug costs continue to increase, plan management strategies become increasingly important to maintain plan sustainability. Step therapy and special authorization are critical features for ensuring proper management of higher cost therapies, while generic pricing and maintenance medication programs can realize savings on more commonly utilized lower cost therapies.

When considering plan sustainability, think about the following:

• Plan design and plan performance—are you and your employees getting the benefits you need and good value from your benefit plan?

• Plan management features—are there some cost-containment measures that you could be using?

• Industry trends—is your plan future-proofed? Is there a new technology or treatment that your plan design is well positioned to address? What is going on in the industry in terms of policies and technologies that might affect your benefit plan?

Plan sustainability means creating a benefits plan that remains viable into the future—considering your employees and your business today, and 10 years from now.

5. Potential impacts of federal benefit programs

Many employers are unsure about the pending impact of the federal government’s direction to provide publicly-funded dental care and pharmacare programs.

While there has been lots of headlines and government announcements about such programs, the reality is that the federal dental program is income-tested and is only for those who do not have access to privately-sponsored benefits. The federal government’s proposed pharmacare program, meanwhile, is years away from potential implementation—and as proposed is extremely limited in scope to potentially covering only contraceptives and some diabetes products.

So whether your company has seven employees or 7,000, the time to ensure your group benefit plan is keeping pace with the needs and interests of your employees—and the needs of your organization—is now.

As a supporting member of the Alberta Chamber of Resources, Alberta Blue Cross is privileged to be the group benefit provider of choice to many Alberta-based resource sector members and supporting companies. If your company doesn’t have group benefits through Alberta Blue Cross, we’re available for a confidential, no-obligation consultation at your convenience.

Thank you to Alberta Blue Cross for preparing this article for use by ACR.

If you would like to have your organization, project or product featured in an ACR blog and Resources Letter, let us know! Contact communications@acr-alberta.com.