New approach to benefits management by CADA includes the Reformulary

The Canadian Automobile Dealers Association (CADA) is a membership-based organization representing the interests of new car and truck dealers across Canada. CADA 360 Employee Benefits dates back to 1950 and today provides coverage for over half of all Canadian dealerships, protecting 70,000 lives and a $50 million annual prescription drug spend.

Since CADA 360 is a not-for-profit trust, rate stability and program sustainability are fundamental objectives. In 2017 CADA embarked on a journey to define an innovative and sustainable approach to claims management – one that represents best practices and enables a solid financial footing going forward. Having a trusted formulary partner and well-managed formulary (drug list) is an essential part of CADA’s new approach. CADA chose Reformulary Group as its partner, and implemented the Reformulary®, a curated, evidence-based formulary informed by independent experts. Some of the core advantages that the Reformulary offers CADA are its DrugFinder tool that enables members to search the formulary, look up alternative drugs that are preferred, and save their drugs in a virtual medicine cabinet. Another key advantage is the dynamic nature of the Reformulary, being updated monthly based on its review of new and existing drugs by an independent panel of medical experts.

Dealerships began switching over to the Reformulary as of November of 2019; implementation is expected to be complete in early 2021. The switch to Reformulary has seen very few complaints out of more than 58,000 transitioned plan members so far. This can be attributed to the comprehensive, much-appreciated communication that made the transition visible and easy to understand for plan members, dealership principals and advisors, by CADA with the support of Reformulary Group.

“The Reformulary is a thoughtful approach to drug plan management and encourages members to be participants in managing their prescription costs. It really is as simple as having everything in the palm of your hand, from their proactive communication to the DrugFinder tool, which is easy to use,” said Karen O’Connell, Director of Governance & Plan Management at CADA. “Reformulary was a key part of our new approach to benefit management, enabling us to flatten our year-over-year drug spend while providing excellent coverage of prescription drugs. Further, given the confidence we now have in better managing our drug spend, it gave us the flexibility to provide a two-month premium waiver to dealers during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic,” she added. “This was unprecedented in the history of CADA and was definitely appreciated by our membership.”