April Scott-Clarke, with files from Canadian Press
Generic drugs just got less expensive for the 200,000 Nova Scotians enrolled in the Pharmacare program, however employers shouldn’t expect to see any reductions in their drug costs.
The provinces Fair Drug Pricing Act (a stand-alone act to oversee the public drug plans, which accounted for about $300 million in spending last year) went into effect earlier this week, stating that generic drug prices will be capped at 45% of the brand name cost under the province’s Pharmacare program. As of January 1, 2012 this cap will drop to 40% and to 35% as of July 1, 2012.
The government says that the new pricing will “slow the rapid growth of spending on drugs by government through Pharmacare so these programs remain in place for people who need them.”