SSQ Insurance is now including coverage for pharmacogenetic tests as an option in its group insurance offerings.
Pharmacogenetic tests help analyze how an individual’s DNA will react to a prescription drug. This makes it easier for attending physicians to identify the most appropriate drug for the patient.
The new pharmacogenetic tests clause may be added to a health insurance policy at the policyholder’s request, and in accordance with a reimbursement maximum of their choice. Pharmacogenetic testing must be prescribed by a physician and carried out in an authorised laboratory in Canada to be eligible for the coverage.
Through the new coverage option, SSQ Insurance looks to make life easier for insureds while giving policyholders better control over their expenses for treatments.
“Since the treatment of disease is evolving toward personalized solutions for individual patients, pharamacogenetics are quickly becoming a must. We wanted to develop a product adapted to this reality and make it available to our customers across Canada,” said SSQ Insurance senior vice-president of strategy and product management Éric Trudel.
Trudel explained in a statement that SSQ Insurance is one of the first insurers to expand its health insurance by adding a pharmacogenetic tests clause separate from the typical laboratory analyses clause.
“In doing so, we demonstrate our proactivity in bringing technological advances in health to our customers,” the senior vice-president added.
The new insurance clause comes a year after SSQ Insurance partnered with pharmacology company BiogeniQ to enhance group benefits for insureds suffering from depression. Patients with depression typically have to undergo a number of treatment strategies before the right drug is identified. But thanks to the partnership with BiogeniQ, patients can easily undergo pharmacogenetic tests to help speed up the process.
According to a release, the success of the pilot program with BiogeniQ led SSQ Insurance to develop the new clause.
