Manulife supports measures to reduce medication costs in Canada

TSC$ unless otherwise stated
TSX/NYSE/PSE: MFC  SEHK: 945

TORONTO, Aug. 9, 2019 /CNW/ - Earlier today the Government of Canada announced changes to the Patented Medicine Price Review Board. These changes should significantly reduce the cost of new medicines in Canada. 

Life and health insurers play a vital role by providing more than 25 million Canadians with access to a wide range of prescription drugs and other health supports through extended health care plans. Manulife has been working with government and health care stakeholders to promote solutions that lower the cost of medicines and extend prescription drug coverage to all Canadians through a wide range of benefit plans. 

"Manulife strongly supports measures to reduce the cost of medications," said Donna Carbell, Head of Group Benefits, Manulife Canada. "Today's announcement is an important one because it will help employers continue to provide comprehensive drug coverage to employees and their families."

Manulife is proud to work with more than 21,000 employers to deliver workplace health benefits including prescription drug coverage, dental and other health coverage to 5 million Canadians. Our plans are designed to help keep Canadian workers and their families healthy resulting in healthier workplaces for employees.

About Manulife

Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services group that helps people make their decisions easier and lives better. We operate primarily as John Hancock in the United States and Manulife elsewhere. We provide financial advice, insurance, as well as wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups and institutions. At the end of 2018, we had more than 34,000 employees, over 82,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving almost 28 million customers. As of June 30, 2019, we had over $1.1 trillion (US$877 billion) in assets under management and administration, and in the previous 12 months we made $29.4 billion in payments to our customers. Our principal operations in Asia, Canada and the United States are where we have served customers for more than 100 years. With our global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, we trade as 'MFC' on the Toronto, New York, and the Philippine stock exchanges and under '945' in Hong Kong.

SOURCE Manulife Financial Corporation

View original content: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/August2019/09/c6577.html