This summer, THERE SURE IS A LOT

TO CELEBRATE!

JULY/AUGUST 2017

greenshield.ca

CANADA TURNS 150 AND GSC TURNS 60!This summer Canada is 150 years young and as it turns out, this year

also marks a major milestone for GSC. Happy 60th to us! Let’s celebrate by reflecting on how the health insurance industry and Canada’s approach to health have evolved over the years. Here are all the

wonderful, worrisome — and sometimes wacky — turns along the way...

Special Summer Double Issue!

a number of parish and municipal fire-insurance companies operated in Lower and Upper Canada.

THEN IN 1847 — drumroll please —

the first Canadian life insurance company

is founded.

IN THE 1830s,

CANADIAN CONFEDERATION1867 – CANADA IS BORN!Established by what is originally known as The British North America Act, 1867. About health care in the act:

g Federal government — responsible for marine hospitals and quarantine

g Provincial governments — responsible for hospitals, asylums, charities, and charitable institutions

DENTISTS ARE SCARCETooth decay among children is so rampant that one dentist estimates

that at the turn of the century 50% of schoolchildren had rotten teeth.

1868 – CANADA PASSES ITS FIRST INSURANCE LAW,

prompting major insurance companies to form during the 1870s.

BY 1900Federal civil service, railways, and large financial institutions introduce pension

plans for employees.

1908 OPIUM ACT

The first drug prohibition, along with other medicines, and alcohol

and tobacco regulations.

Or some cocaine or opium for everything from tuberculosis and asthma to indigestion and depression?

At that time they are considered “wonder drugs.”

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

How about some heroin cough syrup?

WORLD WAR AND THE ROARING TWENTIES

1914 – 1918During World War I the use of modern technology results in unprecedented carnage and destruction:

Canadian National Committee for Mental Hygiene surveys asylums across Canada, raising public awareness of the horrid conditions — provinces start to make improvements.

1918 – 1919 The Spanish influenza epidemic kills approximately 50,000 Canadians.Thankfully today we have the flu shot.

1918

1919The federal Liberal party includes a health plan as part of its election platform — nothing comes of it. But lobbying by the Canadian Life Insurance Officers Association successfully introduces group insurance in Canada.

1922RESEARCHERS IN CANADA

DISCOVER INSULIN — improving diabetes

management worldwide.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE ONLINE AT

1925 Canadian scientists pioneer the large-scale development

of the diphtheria vaccine.

1929 – 1939As the Depression hits Canada...

g Unprecedented poverty and deteriorating health spreads across the country — you name it, we got it: cardiovascular and renal diseases, cancer, influenza, pneumonia, and tuberculosis.

g Number of paying clients for doctors declines.

g Hospital revenues plummet and their costs rise as they continue to try to help those in need.

1934A handful of Canadian

hospitals introduce prepaid hospital

insurance to cover hospital stays.

Male heads of households are charged $5 a year plus $2 for their wives and $1 for each dependent… well beyond the reach of most working-

class Canadians.

THE GREAT DEPRESSION

Doctors in Canada develop Pablum in 1931 as a way to prevent nutritional

rickets in children — it improves the health of children worldwide.

VIEW AD

No more rickets!

SCIENTISTS IN CANADA PERFECT THE

ELECTRON MICROSCOPEREAD MORE

1937Associated Medical

Services Inc. provides a prepaid medical services insurance plan for civil

servants and other employed professionals,

as well as those who are self-employed.

1930s COME TO A CLOSE

As the Canadian economy starts to recover, health insurance picks up steam on the federal government’s agenda.

Spuds save the day!

... with a little help from Canadian doctor

Armand Frappier who discovers that viruses

can stay alive in potatoes leading to ground-

breaking work in infectious diseases.

LISTEN TO THE STORY

WORLD WAR II AND WRAPPING UP THE ’40s

1939 – 1945As Canada enters the war, the deprivation of the 1930s has left its mark with

numerous volunteer recruits failing to pass the initial physical examination.

First performed in humans in the 1890s in attempts to cure mental illness,

DOCTORS PERFORM LOBOTOMIES throughout the 1940s and 1950s.

CANADIAN-BORN DR. NORMAN BETHUNE INTRODUCES

MOBILE BLOOD BANKS

on the battlefield and develops new surgical instruments, and way back in 1936 even floats out the concept of a universal health care system for Canada.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE ONLINE AT

STRESS WASN’T RECOGNIZED AS A CONCEPT until a doctor in Canada named Dr. Hans Selye began studying it and became known internationally as the “Father of the field of stress.”

Gallup poll asks Canadians if they support a government-funded health plan to which they would make monthly

contributions. 80% say “yes.”

YES

NO

1949

1942 – 1943Statistics from the Medical

Procurement and Assignment Board present a strong rationale for developing a post-war plan to enhance the health of Canadians.

1945Significant expansion of employee

benefit plans by employers. The federal government ramps

up efforts to introduce a universal health insurance plan.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE ONLINE AT

1957 – GSC ARRIVES ON THE SCENE!

g William (Bill) Wilkinson, a pharmacist in Windsor, recognizes that Canadians are struggling to afford the medication they need. So he steps up...

g Along with four other members of the Essex County Pharmacist Association, they rustle up a total investment of $750 and establish the first prepaid prescription drug plan in Canada.

g Prescription Services Inc. — now Green Shield Canada — is incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation in Ontario.

g Bill’s drive to find a “better way” inspires our not-for-profit status and our mission and focus on giving back.

g GSC 1957 total revenue: a whopping $1,000.

THE NIFTY FIFTIESEARLY ’50s

Minimal coverage is available via public drug plans for some people on social

assistance such as Veterans Affairs. Private drug plans are virtually non-existent.

CIGARETTESCONTINUE TO CARRY

A CULTURAL IMAGE OF SOPHISTICATION, GLAMOUR, AND SEX APPEAL TO BOOT!

WATCH AN OLD AD

In the 1950s, when I first founded Green Shield Canada, about

50% of the prescriptions written by doctors were not dispensed, and for a very simple reason: the patients could not afford them.

William (Bill) Wilkinson

WATCH OUR VIDEO

How about a uranium blanket for arthritis? ... radioactive pendant for rheumatism? ... radioactive anti-aging cosmetics and even radioactive drinks?

YOU COULD HAVE IT ALL AS RADIOACTIVITY IS THOUGHT TO BE GOOD FOR YOU.

VIEW AD

BY THE END OF 1958,

23 Windsor-area companies are offering prepaid drug plans to their

employees — including Meisner and Company, Lawrence Products,

Martin’s Drug Store, Bulmer Typewriter Company, and the Murphy and

Morton tobacco companies.

1957Canadian government

passes the Hospital Insurance and Diagnostic Services Act — we start

to see signs of what would evolve into our present health

care system.

READ MORE

AT THE END OF THE 1950s,everyone is weighing the pros and cons of “medicare.”

Tensions rise as a doctors’ strike breaks out.

READ MORE

SOME MENTAL HEALTH PATIENTS ARE FINALLY RELEASED FROM PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITALS

due to new drugs that help control behaviour.

THE SWINGING SIXTIES 1961

10.7 MILLIONCANADIANS HAVE SOME FORM

OF MEDICAL INSURANCE

7.5 MILLIONHAVE NO COVERAGE AT ALL.

RESEARCHERS IN CANADA

DISCOVER THAT A SINGLE TYPE OF

CELL HAS THE ABILITY TO REGENERATE

ANY KIND OF HUMAN BODY TISSUE

BY DIVIDING AND GROWING.

Hello stem cells!

CLICK HERE FOR MORE ONLINE AT

1962AFTER NEARLY TWO DECADES OF WHAT IS OFTEN REFERRED

TO AS “POLITICAL WRANGLING” AND “THE FIGHT FOR MEDICARE,”Saskatchewan takes the lead introducing a universal, provincial medical

insurance plan to provide doctors’ services. Props to Thomas (Tommy) Douglas.

READ MORE

1966UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE BECOMES A REALITY AS THE

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PASSES THE MEDICAL CARE ACT:

g Introduced in the House of Commons as follows: “The government of Canada believes that all Canadians should be able to obtain health services of high quality according to their need for such services and irrespective of their ability to pay. We believe that the only practical and effective way of doing this is through a universal, prepaid, government-sponsored scheme.”

g Not all provinces are eager to join the plan as a majority of Canadians were already insured under a variety of private or non-profit plans.

1964ROYAL COMMISSION ON HEALTH SERVICES

RECOMMENDS MEDICARE FOR ALL OF CANADA.

LISTEN TO THE STORY

THE 1970s: THE ‘ME’ DECADE

GSC DEVELOPS A DENTAL PLAN ... then vision care... and then extended health plans, which include hearing aids, prosthetics, semi-private and private

hospital/nursing and out-of-province/out-of-Canada travel plans.

Meanwhile, government plans continue to cut certain medical services like prescriptions drugs and out-of-Canada coverage.

BY 1972,ALL PROVINCES AND THE TERRITORIES

NOW HAVE UNIVERSAL PHYSICIAN SERVICES INSURANCE PLANS.

AND EMPLOYEE BENEFITS PLANS EXPAND...

BY 1977AS THE SAYING GOES, IMITATION IS THE SINCEREST FORM OF FLATTERY.

Now most insurance companies in North America are offering prepaid drug plans modeled after GSC’s invention.

CANADIAN SCIENTIST, HELMUT LUCAS, INVENTS THE PROSTHETIC HAND.

CANADIAN ENGINEER ROLAND GALARNEAU INVENTS

COMPUTERIZED BRAILLE.

READ MORE

CLICK HERE FOR MORE ONLINE AT

TOWARDS THE NEW MILLENNIUM

INTO THE 1980sRANGE OF EXTENDED HEALTH SERVICES IS EXPANDING.GSC plans now include physiotherapy, massage, chiropractic, naturopathy, homeopathy, speech therapy, and psychologist services. And plan designs expand to include flexible benefit plans, health care spending accounts,

and personal spending accounts.

1984Researcher in Canada,

Dr. Tak Wah Mak, discovers the structure of the T cell receptor for antigens, bringing the world one step closer to understanding the

human immune system. VHS OR BETA?

TAKE YOUR PICK FOR VIDEO

OPTIONS AS THE AT-HOME FITNESS

CRAZE TAKES HOLD IN THE EARLY ’80s

complete with the whole Jane Fonda look:

big hair, sweatbands, leg warmers, and of

course, a super-tight, neon-coloured leotard.

LOOK AT THIS

1992GSC’S PHILANTHROPIC

ACTIVITIES MOVE INTO HIGH GEAR.

GSC is incorporated as a national not-for-profit

and the GSC Foundation is established, bringing GSC’s mission to life — supporting a variety of causes related to health

care, education, and other social determinants

of health.

THE ABDO-WHAT?CANADIAN CHIROPRACTOR

DEVELOPS THE ABDOMINIZER.

CHECK IT OUT

1999GSC leaves the punch cards behind

and launches the Advantage® claims adjudication system.

ADDING FLUORIDE TO DRINKING WATERhas been a public health measure for about the last 65 years, but some

provinces are more on board than others.

READ MORE

2004Everything really is just a click away!

GSC launches the first version of Plan Member Online Services.

GSC establishes online claims submission for extended health care

service providers — it evolves to become today’s providerConnect.®

WELCOME TO THE 21ST CENTURY

2014THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT

with “GSC ON THE GO®.” GSC also introduces PHARMACIST CARDIOVASCULAR

HEALTH COACHING followed by DIETITIAN HEALTH COACHING in 2016.

2015A deep dive into health

management as GSC launches

2016With Health Canada approving the first biosimilars in 2014, now they approve three more — foreshadowing many to

follow as blockbuster biologic drug patents continue to expire.

2015LIFE AND HEALTH INSURANCE INDUSTRY BY THE NUMBERS:

156: Number of life and health insurers in the Canadian marketplace

148,600: Number of Canadians who work in the insurance industry

28 million: Number of Canadians covered by a wide range of insurance products and services

$84.2 billion: Amount of benefits paid to Canadians by the insurance industry

$59 million: Amount donated by insurers to charities

ANTI-VACCINATION MOVEMENT GAINS MOMENTUM

with outbreaks of measles, mumps, and whooping cough. Thanks Jenny McCarthy

(hope you all caught the extreme sarcasm there).

READ MORE

...AND THAT’S JUST SCRATCHING THE SURFACE FOR CANADA 150.

AS FOR GSC, WE MAY BE 60, BUT WE LOOK AMAZING AND WE’RE DEFINITELY NOT TAKING EARLY RETIREMENT!

2017 CANADA FACES WHAT IS REFERRED TO AS AN

“OPIOID CRISIS.”

READ MORE

FITNESS GADGETS ARE ALL THE RAGE!...

Fitbits, wireless heart rate monitor headphones, standing and walking desks

at work (... probably finally time to upgrade your ThighMaster and Ab Roller). And no

more step class, now it’s Zumba and Jazzercise and of course yoga and bootcamps...

70bpm

GSC TODAY# OF

EMPLOYEES:

857

# OF OFFICES:

7

# OF PLAN MEMBERS:

1.5M

DONATED IN 2016:

$2M

g Atlantic Wellness Community Center

g Calgary Women’s Emergency Shelter (CWES)

g Connected North, a program of TakingITGlobal

g CUPS (Calgary Urban Project Society)

g Dalhousie University Faculty of Dentistry

g Family Service Regina Inc.

g Gateway Community Health Centre

g Grand River Community Health Centre (GRCHC)

g Heritage Skills Development Centre (HSDC)

g Kennedy House Youth Services

g Neighbour to Neighbour Centre

g North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit

g Northern Alberta Home for Women Society (NAHWS)

g NorWest Co-op Community Health Inc.

g Peers Victoria Resources Society

g Queen West – Central Toronto Community Health Centre (CHC)

g Siloam Mission

g SKETCH

g Sunshine House Inc.

g The Elizabeth Fry Society of Greater Vancouver

g The Teresa Group

g Veith House

g Waasegiizhig Nanaandawe’iyewigamig

NUMBER OF 2017 COMMUNITY GIVING PROGRAM RECIPIENTS: 23

SMILES FROM GSC CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVES:

INFINITE

SOURCES:

Historica Canada, The Canadian Encyclopedia, “Health Policy” page, “Insurance” page, “Great Depression” page. Retrieved July 2017: www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/

Government of Canada, “Canada’s Health Care System.” Retrieved July 2017: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/health-care-system/reports-publications/health-care-system/canada.html

Canadian Handbook of Flexible Benefits, 3rd Edition, Robert J. McKay, June 2007. Retrieved July 2017: ca.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470838256.html

Canadian Foundation for Drug Policy & International Harm Reduction Association, “Drugs and Drug Policy in Canada: A Brief Review & Commentary,” prepared for the Senate of Canada, Diane Riley, November, 1998. Retrieved July 2017: www.cfdp.ca/sen8ex1.htm

Canadian Mental Health Association, “Our History.” Retrieved July 2017: http://toronto.cmha.ca/about-us/history-of-cmha/#.WVzzCIqQyYU

Canadian Museum of History, “Flu Epidemic Strikes” page. Retrieved July 2017: www.historymuseum.ca/blog/flu-epidemic-strikes/

Museum of Healthcare at Kingston, Profiles. Retrieved July 2017: http://www.museumofhealthcare.ca/explore/exhibits/vaccinations/profiles.html#drjohngfitzgerald

The National Museum of American History, “What hath toast wrought?” Retrieved July 2017: americanhistory.si.edu/object-project/household-hits/toaster

Canadian Museum of History, “Making Medicare: The History of Health Care in Canada 1914-2007,” 1930-1939 page, 1939-1948 page, 1948-1958 page, 1958-1968 page. Retrieved July 2017: www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/hist/medicare/medic-2h09e.shtml

The Telegraph, “Lobotomy: A history of the controversial procedure,” Fiona Govan, August 3, 2011. Retrieved July 2017: www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/argentina/8679929/Lobotomy-A-history-of-the-controversial-procedure.html

The Inside Story: Special 50th Anniversary Edition, “The Story Behind the Shield,” Summer 2007

“Celebrating Canada: 150 Great Ideas and the Innovative Canadians who created them,” Lieutenant Governor of Alberta. Retrieved July 2017: https://www.lieutenantgovernor.ab.ca/cfcms/default/assets/File/Levee_150Ideas.ppsx

Canadian Life and Health Insurance Facts, 2016 Edition, Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association Inc., 2016. Retrieved July 2017: https://www.clhia.ca/domino/html/clhia/CLHIA_LP4W_LND_Webstation.nsf/resources/Factbook_2/$file/2016+CLHIA+Factbook+ENG.pdf