Pink Shirt Day Marks 10-year Anniversary Today
The anti-bullying movement first started ten years ago in Nova Scotia as two teens decided to stick up for a fellow student who was being picked on.
This year's Pink Shirt Day theme is cyber bullying. Let's encourage others to combat cyberbullying by thinking twice before posting something negative, and instead using the internet to spread kindness.
Employee Appreciation Day is March 2
He
re are 4 ways to show your co-workers you sincerely appreciate all of their effort, hard work, dedication, patience, teamwork, and all-around wonderfulness.
Quote for the Month...
"Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others
belong to us as well." -Voltaire
I
f you have any comments or concerns, do not hesitate to
email
me.
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UBCM Group Benefits Newsletter
February 2018
A Strong Advocate as the Chair of the PBC Board
UBCM Group Benefits was pleased with the announcement that Richard Taylor was elected to the role of Chair of the Pacific Blue Cross Board of Directors. Richard has served as a Director since 1991, and served as Board Chair twice before, he also previously served as a director with the PBC's subsidiary BC Life & Casualty Company (BC Life).
Richard served as Executive Director of the Union of BC Municipalities for 22 years. He was a founding trustee of BC's Municipal Pension Board of Trustees, where he served three terms as chair and three terms as vice-chair. He also serves as Vice-Chair of BC
Assessment.
A strong advocate for building healthy communities, Richard is also founding Chair of the Pacific Blue Cross Health Foundation, which provides grants to not-for-profit organizations working to improve health and wellbeing in BC.
Canadians Pay More for Generics
Source: Benefits and Pensions Monitor
Canada had the third highest rate of generic drug use and the second highest per capita spending on generics among OECD countries in 2016, says the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB). Its 'Generics360' report found, however, that in 2016, Canadians continued to pay more than most other OECD countries for generic drugs despite high generic drug use and the implementation of provincial and territorial policies that have greatly reduced generic prices in recent years. The findings demonstrated that Canadian public drug plans could have seen their 2016 costs reduced by nearly half a billion dollars if higher-priced top-selling generic drugs in Canada had been aligned with international levels. Generic drugs accounted for 74 per cent of the volume of drugs in the Canadian pharmaceutical market in 2016, the third highest among the OECD countries after the United States and Germany.
Drug Deal One Step Forward
While we applaud the recent 5-year deal between the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance (pCPA) and the Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical Association (CGPA) to reduce the cost of some 70 commonly prescribed generic drugs by up to 40 per cent, it is reminding the industry that this is only one step forward and that there needs to be more effort in this area. And if the rising cost of drugs cannot be tamed, there may be a need for employers consider other options.
Learn more.
More than 7 out of 10 prescriptions reimbursed by public drug plans are generic drugs, which contain the same active ingredients and are just as effective as their brand name counterparts. Pacific Blue Cross Plans that include mandatory generic substitution or
Least Cost Alternative
(LCA) pricing, and those tied to BC PharmaCare could see significant savings after the new pricing takes effect on April 1, 2018.
Contact us today to discuss how we can help you achieve savings in your Plan!
Coming April 2: Mandatory Fair PharmaCare Integration
Alignment with government programs has long been a practice at Pacific Blue Cross, and one of the most effective strategies to help Employers to afford their drug coverage. Pacific Blue Cross is the first health benefits provider in Canada to automate the adjudication process for government-approved prescriptions.
Effective April 2, 2018, PBC will strengthen this program to require all employees to apply for BC PharmaCare Special Authority coverage for high-cost drug prescriptions, before applying to their group plan, ensuring that employees are prescribed the most evidence based, cost effective therapies. Once approved, employees do not have to send paperwork to Blue Cross and can use their pay direct drug card for instant claiming at BC pharmacies.
Lower Dental Fees Introduced
Pacific Blue Cross has adopted the Alberta Dental Fee Guide prices in response to reductions made by the Alberta Dental Association. Please note and inform your employees that dentists are not mandated to lower their fees in response to the change and may pass these costs on to the employees.
BC's Hourly Minimum Wage will Increase (again) effective June 1, 2018
Premier John Horgan
announced changes to BC's minimum wage. The current hourly minimum wage of $11.35 was implemented on September 15, 2017. This rate will increase as follows:
- June 1, 2018 will increase by $1.30 to $12.65
- June 1, 2019 will increase by $1.20 to $13.85
- June 1, 2020 will increase by $0.75 to $14.60
- June 1, 2021 will increase by $0.60 to $15.20
As reported by the provincial government, the gradual increases are intended to "allow employers time to plan and absorb additional labour costs."
British Columbia - Labour Relations - Review
On February 6, 2018, there was an announcement to the appoint a committee of special advisers to review the Labour Relations Code to ensure British Columbia's unionized workplaces support fair laws for workers and businesses, and are consistent with the labour rights and protections enjoyed by other Canadians.
The panel is tasked with consulting interested stakeholders from all regions of the province, and reporting back to the minister by August 2018, with recommendations on any amendments to the code that will better support a growing, sustainable economy. The panel will also review any recent changes in labour laws in other Canadian jurisdictions to ensure the Labour Relations Code is consistent with best practices elsewhere.
The last comprehensive reviews of the Labour Relations Code took place in 1992 and 2003, and the last substantive amendments were made in 2001 and 2002.
10 Steps to Work-Life Balance
According to Statistics Canada, a lack of work-life balance costs Canadian businesses a combined 20 billion dollars a year in health claims, lost productivity and absenteeism. See more.
The Bottom Line: Wrist Postures
Watch the following
video as it identifies the relationship between working with awkward wrist postures and carpal tunnel syndrome.
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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