Partnership means Empire Life will provide stop-loss insurance to Symbility’s TPA partners
As Wednesday’s Federal Budget attested, Canada’s escalating drug costs are a concern at the highest levels. The government has pledged over $140 million over the next five years to Health Canada, the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board and the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health to address the problem.
It’s an issue that has dominated the health insurance space for years now, so any assistance from Ottawa will be most welcome. The partnership between software firm Symbility Health and Empire Life announced last week pointed to the fact that many companies are struggling with the high costs of prescription drugs. The deal means Empire Life will now provide stop-loss insurance to Symbility’s third-party administrator (TPA) partners, starting on April 1, 2017. Stop-loss insurance is purchased by employers who self-fund their employee benefit health plans and do not want to assume 100% of the liability for plan's claims.
Dara Brachman is vice president, Group Operations at Empire Life and for her the partnership with Symbility really is a no-brainer for both sides.
“They are a strong Canadian company with expertise in the technology field,” she says. “Given their relationships with many TPAs in Canada, it was an opportunity to expand our market offering in a different channel. We have traditionally distributed our products in the Canadian marketplace through group advisors and brokers. We are now growing our business outside of those channels.”
The marriage between Empire Life, with a lineage dating back to 1923 and a current AUM close to $16 billion, and an ambitious upstart like Symbility looks like sound strategy. The software firm was recently recognized as a top performing tech stock on the 2017 TSX Venture 50, marking an eventful period for the company.
“We started discussions with Symbility in 2016, so it has taken several months to get the program up and running for April 1,” says Brachman. “Symbility focuses on providing claims processing solutions, and they work with a variety of third-party administrators. Empire Life will now provide a large amount of pooling insurance for protection of their customers.”
Related stories:
Empire Life’s specialty drug plan to be offered to all group drug plan members
Empire launches two new insurance products
It’s an issue that has dominated the health insurance space for years now, so any assistance from Ottawa will be most welcome. The partnership between software firm Symbility Health and Empire Life announced last week pointed to the fact that many companies are struggling with the high costs of prescription drugs. The deal means Empire Life will now provide stop-loss insurance to Symbility’s third-party administrator (TPA) partners, starting on April 1, 2017. Stop-loss insurance is purchased by employers who self-fund their employee benefit health plans and do not want to assume 100% of the liability for plan's claims.
Dara Brachman is vice president, Group Operations at Empire Life and for her the partnership with Symbility really is a no-brainer for both sides.
“They are a strong Canadian company with expertise in the technology field,” she says. “Given their relationships with many TPAs in Canada, it was an opportunity to expand our market offering in a different channel. We have traditionally distributed our products in the Canadian marketplace through group advisors and brokers. We are now growing our business outside of those channels.”
The marriage between Empire Life, with a lineage dating back to 1923 and a current AUM close to $16 billion, and an ambitious upstart like Symbility looks like sound strategy. The software firm was recently recognized as a top performing tech stock on the 2017 TSX Venture 50, marking an eventful period for the company.
“We started discussions with Symbility in 2016, so it has taken several months to get the program up and running for April 1,” says Brachman. “Symbility focuses on providing claims processing solutions, and they work with a variety of third-party administrators. Empire Life will now provide a large amount of pooling insurance for protection of their customers.”
Related stories:
Empire Life’s specialty drug plan to be offered to all group drug plan members
Empire launches two new insurance products
