New Blue Cross Health & Dental Plan- Elements

Have you heard about the new Medavie Blue Cross Health Plan...?

Definitely more options available.  You can now customized your personal #HealthPlan & #DentalPlan with #BlueCross.

Compare Best Health & Dental Plan!

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Co-Payment

....Also known  as "Copay"

A fixed dollar amount you pay for certain types of care.

-       You might pay a $20 for a chiropractor’s visit and the insurance company will reimburse the rest.   Plans with higher premiums generally have lower copays, and vice versa. 

      Here is what you get with Blue Cross Insurance, and that is why in my professional opinion, they have the best offer on the Canadian market at this point, compared to Manulife and Sunlife.

   

     ** What does a $50 Maximum Co-payment Per Prescription mean....to a client...?

The drug module under the Options and Options Plus personal health plans can help keep your costs down. It has no overall maximum and a maximum co-payment of $50 per prescription. The most you’ll ever pay for any one prescription is $50.

For example:

The $50 maximum co-payment per prescription could save you more than $3,500 in one year alone over a conventional 20% co-payment plan.  Overall, the Options Plus plan could save you more than $20,000 in one year.

Example of James (one of our client) living with Psoriatic arthritis:

Cost of medication:"Enbrel" 

• $1,733.69 (per month)
• $20,804.28 (per year)

Cost to James with 20% co-payment:

• $346.74 (per month)
• $4,160.86 (per year)

Cost to James with an Options or Options Plus plan: 

• only $50 per month = $600 per year.

So on a regular individual or group coverage, it could of cost James over $20,000 compared to $600.

Cancer Drugs

Cancer Drug Statistics

Some truth about Cancer drugs in Canada

Lots of clients when we discuss about Drug coverage for cancer treatment, ask us:  Well, isn't that covered by our medicare...?

The sad truth; Not always.  

Unless you know someone close that went thru treatment, you might not realize that lots of drugs are not covered by medicare.

Their next question: Who pays for those Drugs...?

YOU DO!  Either from a personal drug plan, a group drug plan or from your own out-of-pocket.

Not to scare, but this is the reality we leave in.   With Medicare, we are covered when we are in hospitals, but we need to make sure we have our family well insured.

Here are a few facts:

• About 50% of newer cancer drugs are taken at home and, as a result, in most provinces patients can be responsible for the full cost[1]. 

• The average cost of a single course of treatment with newer cancer drugs cost $65,000[2].

• Of the 12 cancer drugs approved by Health Canada between 2000 and 2009 that are administered outside a hospital or clinic, ¾ cost over $20,000 or more annually[3]. 

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[1] Backgrounder: Cancer Drug Access.  Canadian Cancer Society.  29 Sep 2010.  http://www.cancer.ca/Canada-wide/About%20us/Media%20centre/CW-Media%20releases/CW-2010/Backgrounder%20Cancer%20Drug%20Access.aspx?sc_lang=EN

[2] Majority of Canadians Worried About Cost of Cancer Drugs.  Canadian Cancer Society press release, Sep 29, 2010. http://www.cancer.ca/Canada-wide/About%20us/Media%20centre/CW-Media%20releases/CW-2010/Majority%20of%20Canadians%20Worried%20about%20Cost%20of%20Cancer%20Drugs.aspx?sc_lang=EN

[3] Cancer Drug Access for Canadians.  Canadian Cancer Society. September 2009.  http://www.cancer.ca/canada-wide/about%20us/media%20centre/cw-media%20releases/cw-2009/~/media/CCS/Canada%20wide/Files%20List/English%20files%20heading/pdf%20not%20in%20publications%20section/CANCER%20DRUG%20ACCESS%20FINAL%20-%20English.ashx