Ten years ago, prescription drug prices in Canada were essentially shrouded in mystery. Canadians who purchased drugs on a regular basis may have been aware that the total retail price paid at the pharmacy consisted of the ingredient cost plus the dispensing fee (the professional fee pharmacies charge to dispense medication and advice). In most provinces, these two price components are clearly disclosed on the official drug receipt.
The Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association says the prescription drug system must be fundamentally reformed if it is to serve Canadians well in the long term.
It’s interesting how certain areas in drug plan management can cause significant confusion and misunderstanding that can lead to inappropriate assumptions being made. It’s often impossible to trace back where certain notions have routinely become accepted as fact over the years and never questioned. These assumptions can lead to cost liabilities and waste.
Poor decisions by plan members lead to drug plan waste and can cost plan sponsors more than $5 billion every year, according to a report.
Equitable Life has introduced integrated health metrics reference reporting to its drug plan management tool kit.
Drug cost containment strategies such as mandatory generic substitution and prior authorization rightly dominate discussions about trends in the health benefits industry. But is this preoccupation with cost containment distracting the industry from getting at one of the fundamental causes of poor plan member health and the enormous costs?
Several large B.C. public sector unionized plans have recently bargained new drug plans that mimic BC PharmaCare coverage. While the net impact will take some time to assess, there are some considerations for plan sponsors contemplating similar changes.
Governments that opt for prescription drug bulk purchasing agreements can save taxpayers money, but doing so may put patient health at risk, according to a report.
Our market in Canada could certainly benefit from following the American lead of data-driven decision-making. In addition, our industry in Canada has to stop relying on extrapolating and/or inferring impacts based on U.S. data because our worlds are completely different. We need to start focusing on answering our own questions.
The unprecedented convergence of the brand name drug patent cliff, combined with progressive generic price regulations in most provinces, has resulted in a dramatic and prolonged drug holiday (lower than historical growth of drug expenditures) the likes of which has never been seen in Canada. But in the absence of proactive and thoughtful approaches to […]