Frédéric Leblanc, strategic advisor, drug program management at iA Financial Group, says he has seen an increase in the use of antidepressant medications since the beginning of the pandemic.
He points out that the proportion of people who requested a reimbursement for antidepressant medications within iA's group insurance plans grew by 20 per cent in the second quarter of 2020, compared with Q2 2019.
The strategic advisor says the proportion of participants who use antidepressants climbed from 20 per cent in Q2 2019 to 24 per cent in Q2 2020. “In iA plans, we've seen a larger increase in antidepressant use among people under 45,” he adds.
Reports from TELUS Health and Express Scripts Canada also point to higher antidepressant use, Leblanc continues. For example, Express Scripts Canada states that drugs used to treat depression rose from fifth to fourth place between 2019 and 2020, based on overall private plan spending. The health benefits manager also noticed a 10 per cent increase in the number of claims for antidepressants per insured.
Low cost drugs
In terms of group plan costs, Frédéric Leblanc is not overly concerned about the increase in antidepressant use. These drugs are inexpensive, he says. "Most of them are available in generic form. They are not driving plan costs upward.”
Specialty drugs and cancer drugs account for much more of the cost increase in group plans, he adds.
Warding off disability
He adds that this increase in antidepressant use reflects the psychological distress people have been experiencing since the pandemic was declared. All the same, he believes the increase shows that plan members “are seeking help by getting a prescription for an antidepressant.” These medications can help prevent disability, he continues. "We may be seeing an increase in the duration of disabilities, but we’re not seeing an increase in the number of disabilities” in iA plans, Leblanc explains.
He says the employer also has a role to play through its group insurance plan. The plan can provide psychological and other professional support, employee assistance programs and telemedicine services.
Decrease in non-COVID-19 infections
A silver lining to the pandemic: Health measures such as telecommuting have tamped down cold and flu infections, Leblanc points out. “We have seen a 60 per cent decline in the use of medication to treat infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia," he says.
Leblanc draws a parallel with presenteeism, or working without being productive. "You could almost call it a decline in absenteeism. We all miss a day or two of work to stay home and nurse a cold or flu. There were fewer of these absences during the pandemic. With a light cold, we can work remotely.”
Limited access to care
Meanwhile, the use of drugs in other therapeutic classes has increased, Leblanc adds. This is to be expected, he says, for drugs related to cancer and cholesterol treatment, as well as biologics used in the treatment of inflammatory diseases.
“These increases are steady. However, they are not as pronounced as one would have thought. One of the hypotheses is that there is still some difficulty in accessing health professionals. This may cause a delay in the diagnosis or follow-up of an illness,” Frédéric Leblanc points out.
He also mentions the impact of reduced access to care on treatment of asymptomatic diseases such as hypertension. People who do not see a doctor regularly may end up straying from their medication regimen, he says.
