The paper offers six basic suggestions:
• drug insurance plans could revisit their maximum reimbursement prices since a body of evidence suggests that Canadian prices are too high;
• reimbursement prices could be set at the pharmacy level;
• the use of alternative and competing distribution channels could be encouraged;
• using the pharmacist to provide additional paid services would moderate the impact of reducing generic-drug prices and benefit the healthcare system;
• drug plans, including employer-sponsored plans, could use tiered formularies to encourage their beneficiaries to use low-cost drugs; and
• provincial and territorial drug plans could ensure that newly approved drugs are listed on their formularies in a timely manner.
Since generic drug prescriptions represent more than half of all prescriptions written in our health systems, it is important that Canadians have better information about generic drug pricing. The Health Council of Canada encourages Canadians to join in a broader public discussion on this critical health care issue and become better informed.
Courtesy of the Canadian Healthcare Network.
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