A group of 28 patient advocacy organizations are urging Health Canada to stop its review of drug pricing. The federal government announced changes to drug price regulation in December 2017, setting out proposals through the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board that it estimates will deliver $12.6 billion in net benefits over 10 years through lower drug costs. Read: Feds […]
Almost one million Canadians cut spending on necessities such as food and heating to afford prescription drugs in 2016, according to a report by researchers at the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, McMaster University and the University of Toronto. The report, which used data from Statistics Canada’s 2016 Canadian community health survey, also found 1.69 […]
With 2017 coming to a close and 2018 on the horizon, professionals in the pension, investment, benefits and human resources industries have a number of dates to add to their calendars for the new year. Jan. 1: Ontario’s new youth pharmacare program takes effect. It will provide universal coverage of all medicines listed in the Ontario Drug Benefit […]
As Ontario prepares to roll out its new pharmacare program for youth on Jan. 1, plan sponsors and members will be watching to see how the transition to the public plan from private coverage will work. Of particular concern is the relationship between private plans and the exceptional access program, which facilitates access to drugs not listed on […]
The annual deductible in group benefits plans is a long-standing strategy for sharing costs with employees and encouraging more responsible consumption of benefits. But in the current environment of high-cost prescription drugs and epidemic levels of chronic disease, some industry experts say it’s time to move away from deductibles in favour of other cost-management solutions. […]
The Ontario government may be spending more than it needs to on generic drugs, according to the auditor general’s latest annual report. Auditor general Bonnie Lysyk tabled her 2017 annual report on Wednesday, which found the province doesn’t know whether it’s making any progress in fighting preventable chronic disease. It found total spending by Ontario’s public […]
The federal government has announced sweeping changes to drug price regulation in Canada that it estimates will deliver $12.6 billion in net benefits over 10 years through lower drug costs. On Friday, the federal government released a detailed set of proposals to reform drug price regulations through the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board. They include: […]
Although a national pharmacare strategy seems elusive, the Ontario government is making a fairly aggressive investment in that area by spending $465 million to boost its provincial drug coverage by covering residents under age 25 and from 65 onwards. The program, known as OHIP+, begins Jan. 1, 2018. Children and youth under age 25 will by automatically eligible […]
It’s hard enough for plan members to understand how they can best use their benefits plans, particularly when they’re unaware of the details of the fees charged by service providers. Consider drug claims at a pharmacy. Many plan members aren’t aware that the cost includes an amount for the drug itself, a markup by the […]
More than 2,500 Canadians died from opioid-related overdoses in 2016, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada. The situation is particularly grave in the West. This year, British Columbia alone is on track to see 1,400 deaths due to opioids. The province declared a state of emergency in April 2016, and Alberta followed suit […]