Cubic News

Toromont Industries Recognized as a Finalist for the Inaugural Benefits Canada Drug Plan Management Award

October 2011

Cubic Health is very pleased to announce that one of our clients, Toromont Industries Ltd, was a Finalist for the inaugural Benefits Canada Drug Plan Management Award that is part of the Workplace Health and Benefits Awards.

Toromont has been a model for what Canadian plan sponsors can achieve through responsible and thoughtful plan design changes. In 2008, Toromont determined that their drug plan cost trends weren’t sustainable: they were trending at a rate double the national average, and given their population demographics, there was a significant risk for organic claims growth. It was clear that something needed to be done. However, like most Canadian plan sponsors, their plan members had become accustomed to very generous drug plan benefits.

Toromont was looking for ways to responsibly contain plan costs without impacting members negatively. Armed with a data-driven blueprint, Toromont began to communicate plan changes to members many months in advance, and given the modeling they completed on their plan, they were able to assess how much the plan would save through its new design.

Toromont decided to reinvest a significant amount of its projected plan savings into additional benefits for their members. The exercise was not to profit off of the backs of plan members; rather, the intent of the plan design change was to ensure long-term sustainability of the plan, and to find money being spent without any meaningful return within the drug plan, and allocate that spending in other areas that would have a measurable impact on the business.

In addition to a customized plan design and formulary, Toromont built a Claims Review Panel for members who sought special consideration based on their existing drug utilization and disease state profile, and the company has partnered with retail pharmacy vendors to support its health and wellness initiatives.

It’s all too common to see situations where plan sponsors and their advisors look for reasons not to make needed changes to the existing plan design. Toromont is a shining example of a company that made meaningful changes, changes that not only benefit the company and the sustainability of its plans, but also have had a positive impact on plan members.

We congratulate Toromont for their well deserved recognition.

« Back to Cubic Health Articles home