October 27, 2010 at 3:25 PM
A conference call was held to discuss the recommendations of the Prescription Drug Review Committee, (PDRC), with the CAW officers. The PDRC committee is made up of representatives from all of the Jazz Unionized employee groups. The purpose of the group is to find ways to improve our use of benefit dollars as it applies to prescription drugs without changing the benefits plans or reducing coverage.
The PDRC met in June and again at the end of September. The Company is trying to be proactive as they see an upward trend in the cost of prescription drugs. While this will not be a surprise to anyone, what you may not know is that there are other factors that will affect the cost of drugs other than the obvious fact that the Jazz workforce is getting older and will statistically require more drugs.
Manufacturing
Drug manufactures are developing a new generation drugs that are promising better results but come at a much higher price.
Rebates
In Canada the government is trying to greatly reduce the rebates that pharmacists have been enjoying for years from the generic drug manufacturers. Currently most pharmacists are automatically changing your prescription drugs to the generic brand as there is not a medical difference between the generic and the name brand. For instance, drugs that start with “Apo” and “Novo” are generics. Once the pharmacists lose the financial incentive, they could go to the more expensive brand names for a better mark up.
Dispensing fees
These are usually only a fraction of the cost of the drug, but they vary greatly from one pharmacy to the next and when you are talking thousands of prescriptions, the cost can really add up. |
It is important that the membership understands that Great-West Life is our adjudicator and service provider for medical and drug claims, but they do not insure our plan. They pay the claims directly from a Jazz bank account set up for this purpose. Our rates this year reflect what we used last year with a 4.7% administration fee for Great West Life plus an inflationary adjustment for the upcoming year. So what we claimed last year, we are paying this year plus the adjustments. This has proven to make our premium dollars go the furthest.
One of the recommendations is that we implement a deferred drug card. What this means is that when you get a prescription filled you give the pharmacist your drug card and you pay in full. The drug claim is then processed electronically and deposited into your bank account within 24 to 48 hours.
The benefits of the drug card are :
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No more paper claims for drug reimbursement, giving faster reimbursement times and lower admin costs.
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Co-ordinates with other member/family member coverage (if applicable).
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Improved co-ordination with government programs.
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Improved prices for dispensing fee services.
Another recommendation is that Jazz implements a ‘wellness program.’ It is easier to stay healthy than get healthy. This would be a long term project that would be a continuous work in progress.
Frequently Asked Questions
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1. How long would it take Jazz to implement this proposed drug card? |
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There would be a large amount of initial administration work that Jazz would have to do. It could be ready as early as March 2011 and as late as July 2011. |
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2. Why not get a full drug card where no money changes hands? |
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Deferred payment cards are a relatively new product. Jazz has not offered the full drug card because they feel that without an exchange of money the cost of drugs go up because people tend to not have a sense of restraint. |
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3. What happens to the yearly $25 deductable? |
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The plan would not change, so the deductable would still be in force. |
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4. What kind of savings are we looking at? |
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Jazz is projecting about an 8% savings on the drug portion of our medical plan by adopting these recommendations. |
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November 2 is the date for the yearly rate review meeting in Toronto for each unionized Jazz group individually. We hope to be able to give Jazz our go ahead with this initiative.
We encourage the membership to ask questions or share any concerns they may have with Sue Porteous (Benefits Representative) at [email protected].
In Solidarity,
Your Bargaining Committee,
| Customer Service
Ken White, Pacific & Western Region (Except YQT)
Bryan Cresswell, Central Region (and YQT)
Francine Maillet, Atlantic Region
Josee Genois, Quebec |
Air Craft Services
Robert Pomanti, Eastern Region
Ron Read, Western Region |