A ground-breaking drug plan solution.

Our Evidence-based drug plan (EBDP) goes beyond ‘open’ and ‘traditional’ formularies with an innovative multi-tiered model. This allows for plenty of choice and reimbursement to plan members for virtually all prescription drugs.

What is an EBDP?

Unlike traditional managed formulary plans, an EBDP doesn't limit access to specific drugs. Instead, the plan covers reimbursement for almost all drugs, but encourages smart choices by reimbursing more cost-effective drug treatments at higher levels.

Mandatory generic substitution ensures that all claims for drugs with a generic version are cut back to the lowest-priced equivalent, even if “no substitution” is indicated on the prescription. Employees will be required to pay the difference if the higher priced alternative is dispensed.

What is a generic drug?

A generic drug is a product that contains the same medicinal ingredients as it's corresponding brand name drug. Health Canada approves all generic drugs for safety, effectiveness and quality, using the same standards for generic-equivalent medication as for brand name drugs. 

Our prior authorization (PA) program targets a limited number of drugs and requires that these drugs be pre-approved for coverage.

How it works

At Sun Life, our PA criteria is written by our clinical pharmacists in collaboration with our global medical team. This ensures the criteria provides access to the therapy for those plan members who would benefit from it the most.

Prior authorization also helps confirm that the plan member meets our clinical criteria for that drug which may include trial of other treatment options.

One of our key strategies for bending the benefits cost curve on drugs is leveraging our scale to negotiate discounts with pharmaceutical manufacturers. These arrangements – known as product listing agreements (PLAs) can help:

• lessen future pool charge increases,
• balance plan sponsors’ needs for drug plan sustainability with plan members’ access to effective therapy, and
• lower the drug costs for the plan sponsor and, in some cases, even plan members, directly at the point of sale. The plan members must use their pay-direct drug card at the pharmacy of purchase for the savings to apply.

The impact of PLAs is substantial. Over the past five years, we’ve saved plan sponsors and their employees more than $100 million.

For more information on how we are building relationships in the pharmaceutical industry to bring costs down, please download our brochure Bending the benefits cost curve – Pharmaceutical discounts.

The Reference Drug Program (RDP) allows you to balance drug plan costs with maintaining therapeutic choices for your employees. Drug costs remain the largest group benefits plan expense, with the threat of even higher costs to come. The RDP serves as another layer in our drug cost savings strategy, along with prior authorization (PA) programs and product listing agreements (PLA).

How it works

• We develop a category of treatments for a specific condition called the ‘therapeutic category.’ We group together a set of drugs that treat the condition in the same, or a similar, way.
• We identify the most cost-effective drug in the therapeutic category. We call this the ‘Reference Drug.’
• Plan members will continue to have access to all drugs in the therapeutic category. However, we will only reimburse them up to the eligible cost of the Reference Drug. We call this the ‘Reference Drug Limit.’

Our provincial integration program is designed to help our Clients manage drug costs by ensuring that plan members access coverage opportunities available under provincial pharmacare and/or specialty drug programs, where appropriate.

We integrate coverage through a 2-tier provincial programs coordination system:

1. “Tier 1” integration ensures that claims are directed to basic government pharmacare programs based on age or income. Examples of such programs include BC, MB and SK Fair PharmaCare, Alberta’s Coverage for Seniors, and Ontario’s Drug Benefit Program for seniors.
2. “Tier 2” integration or our “Provincial Disease Program (PDP)” ensures that members apply to provincial drug programs for coverage of special/exceptional authorization drugs.

Expanded integration focuses on directing claims to specialty drug programs. Examples include specialty programs for MS, HIV, Cancer and rare disease programs.