On September 16, Empire Life announced that it had signed an agreement with Express Scripts Canada to provide pharmacy benefit management services to its group customers. The agreement will take effect on February 2015.

Express Scripts Canada is a subsidiary of Express Scripts Inc., headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. The company's programs help group insurance plans avoid higher costs, for example by identifying generic drugs that can be substituted for brand name medications. As part of its pharmacy benefit management services, Express Scripts also offers a prior authorization program to clinically review specific drugs before allowing their coverage.

"As the drug landscape continues to evolve and costly new specialty drugs grow in importance, we need new ways to help customers protect their employees with comprehensive and cost effective drug benefits,” comments Steve Pong, senior vice-president of group solutions at Empire Life. “Cost shifting does not lead to sustainable drug plans or healthy outcomes. New and innovative approaches grounded in science do. This partnership with Express Scripts Canada will help us shape the future direction of drug plan management and we couldn't be more pleased."