It's National Nutrition Month!
Making new year resolutions can be a powerful time to make positive changes. Employees everywhere are resolving to lose weight, eat better and exercise more. Unfortunately, we're all too familiar with how quickly resolutions can fall by the wayside. Change is hard. Typically, 60% of people have given up by February, and by the three-month mark, just 1 in 5 are still in the game. Yet, instead of despair, it's better to look at this challenge as an opportunity, both to help employees stick to their healthy resolutions and to move your workplace culture forward.
When you set an active example at work, others will follow suit. It's all about modelling the behaviour and giving permission for colleagues to do the same.
You can run a campaign that focuses on all aspects of nutrition. Eat Right,
presented by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, provides key messages event ideas, promotional materials and more. Unlock the Power of Food
is a campaign for National Nutrition Month 2018 presented by the Dieticians of Canada. Also, check out another great motivational video for employers to learn more about sitting less and moving more at work.
Quote for the Month
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"Remember to look up at the stars and
not down at your feet."
~ Stephen Hawking ~
8 January 1942 - 14 March 2018
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f you have any comments or concerns, do not hesitate to
email
me.
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UBCM Group Benefits Newsletter
March 2018
Workplace Health Is About Prevention
Source: Pensions and Benefits Monitor
Employers need to think about workplace health and focusing on prevention. As a simple example when one person gets sick, it can have a domino effect. Prevention is now more important than ever because this is the first generation that will not live longer than its parents. With an aging population and an increase in chronic health problems like hypertension, diabetes, and obesity on the rise, employers need to take action. Though we know that we can't help getting older, we do have the ability to change lifestyle and prevent many of these illnesses. "The eight leading causes of death are all preventable. The way things are going now, 44 per cent of the population will be living with diabetes or pre-diabetes by 2025." The cost of diabetes to the Canadian economy will increase 25 per cent in the next 7 to 10 years. It is a known fact that obesity is a trigger for other diseases and is also becoming more prevalent. As employers, we need to drive employee engagement and participation in improving their health and wellness so we can assist with the prevention of those chronic health problems.
For some great resources for employers see here:
Read This Standing Up: Active Workplaces Are Productive Workplaces
Your employees are spending up to 10 hours a day sedentary and their productivity, happiness and physical and mental health are at stake. But what if there was something you could do? From the experts at ParticipACTION comes
UPnGO
: It's a workplace wellness program that helps deskbound workplaces seamlessly integrate fun, rewarding, and healthy behaviour programming into the workday to help employees be at their best.
Find out why physical activity the single best thing you can do for maximizing engagement, productivity and well-being at work: Sign up for an upcoming UPnGO webinar by contacting
[email protected] with subject line 'UBCM UPnGO Webinar Inquiry'
or learn more
online
.
Medical Cost Inflation Trends are Lower, But for How Long?
In Canada, medical cost is expected to rise by six per cent in 2018 - down two percentage points from 2017 - on a gross basis. The decline in cost inflation is a relief for Canadian employers, who are already facing some of the highest prescription drug costs in the world. Yet the outlook is not clear. A report by Aon says mental health issues, aging, and physical inactivity are expected to be prime drivers of future claims in Canada and will likely contribute significantly to plan utilization.
Meanwhile, the introduction of new specialty and biologic drugs, is already having an impact on benefit plan costs. Employers should be taking this opportunity to assess the impact of those trends and to explore ways to take advantage of plan management options that can help them mitigate cost increases and ensure sustainability.
If you want more information on how to reduce your premiums,
contact us!
Pharma Care-Deductibles
On February 9, 2018, British Columbia announced that it will eliminate or reduce Pharma Care deductibles for low income families. All families with household net incomes under $45,000 will benefit. Families with net annual incomes between $15,000 and $30,000 will have no deductible, starting Jan. 1, 2019. Co-payments will also be eliminated for families with a family member aged 79 years and older with net incomes below $13,750, and lowered for all families with net incomes under $45,000.
Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare
The Federal government has announced the creation of an Advisory Council tasked with performing an economic and social assessment along with running consultations on the feasibility of a national Pharmacare program. For more information click
here
.
The Budget will eliminate Medical Service Plan premiums on January 1, 2020. Revenues from a new employer health tax will help fund this elimination. The new tax is expected to take effect on January 1, 2019 and is expected to bring $463 million in revenue in 2018/19, increasing to $1.9 billion in 2020/21.Under the new arrangement, the health tax will not be a taxable benefit so employees will see a reduction in their
taxable benefits.
See what
Fair PharmaCare
The Budget proposes to expand and enhance the FairPharmaCare program. The net income threshold at which deductibles are introduced will be increased to $30,000 from $15,000 for Regular Assistance families. The "family maximum", the total out of pocket amount a family must pay each year, will be eliminated entirely for Regular Assistance families with incomes below $13,750 and for Enhanced Assistance families (with a member born before 1940) with incomes below $14,000. These changes are to be implemented as of January 1, 2019 and the Ministry of Health estimates that an additional 84,000 families will benefit from these benefits compared to 2017.
Are Your Beneficiaries Up-to-Date?
Life happens... divorce, births, deaths, or a marriage which could influence who you wish to have listed as your life benefit beneficiary in the event of your death. Employers should remind employees that it is important to keep this up-to-date. To update or change beneficiary(ies), you will need to get your employees to complete a
change form and have them submitted to PBC.
Anna-Maria Wijesinghe
Annie Ni
Manager, Member & Association Services
Account Executive
Union of BC Municipalities
Pacific Blue Cross
Phone: 604.270.8226 (ext. 111) Phone: 604.419.2434
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