Spending on prescription drugs is expected to total $33.7 billion in 2018, according to a new report by the Canadian Institute for Health Information. Of that total, $19.3 billion will come from private insurance and individuals paying out of pocket, while the remaining $14.4 billion will be financed by the public sector. As a whole, drug spending […]
Some 731,000 Canadians borrow money to pay for drugs prescribed by their doctors, according to new research by the University of British Columbia. The research, which used data from a 2016 Statistics Canada survey, found 2.5 per cent of respondents said they have to borrow money for prescriptions. Canadians between the ages of 19 and 34 were 3.5-times […]
Private drug plans are hugely valuable, for employees and employers alike, and they need to continue to be a part of the national drug landscape, even with a pharmacare program, said one speaker at the 2018 Calgary Drug Trends Summit. At the same time, drug costs are creating sustainability issues, said Sarah Lussier Hoskyn, senior analyst of […]
The national pharmacare debate is lacking a clear understanding of the coverage already available to Canadians who may be at risk of letting prescriptions go unfilled because of cost, according to a new report by the Fraser Institute. Looking at provincial drug programs across Canada, the report noted British Columbia’s pharmacare plan covers 70 per cent of eligible prescription drugs […]
Any decision reached on pharmacare reform in Canada should guarantee the viability of current health benefits plans, according to the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association in its submission to the advisory council on the implementation of national pharmacare. Jeopardizing current benefits plans could lead to a delay in access to new medicines and could potentially […]
On Sept. 20, the 2018 Halifax Benefits Summit featured insightful sessions on benefits, health and wellness and drug plan trends. With population numbers struggling in the Maritimes, the conference looked at how companies can ensure they’re providing plan members with the best, most competitive benefits options in order to attract and retain talent. Here are some of the highlights of […]
The issue of a national pharmacare program is more nuanced than it may appear at first glance, said Joe Farago during a presentation at the 2018 Halifax Benefits Summit on Sept. 20. “Canadians are starting to change their views,” said Innovative Medicines Canada’s executive director, private payers and investment, during the conference. Farago pointed to a national poll of health-care providers, managers and the […]
A coalition comprised of dozens of federal and provincial health-care organizations, including providers, patient groups, academics, health practitioner unions and professional associations, have teamed up to create a set of principles for national pharmacare in Canada. First, the coaltion believes pharmacare should work as a clear extension of Canada’s current universal health-care system, bringing pharmaceutical services in […]
The results of the ongoing renegotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement could have an impact on how much Canadians pay for their medications in the future, according to one expert. In an article originally published by not-for-profit media outlet the Conversation, Joel Lexchin, an associate professor of family and community medicine at the University of Toronto, pointed out that the […]
Universal pharmacare is an idea that has been kicking around for decades in Canada. Yet despite numerous studies calling for a universal single-payer pharmacare program to ensure all Canadians have access to prescription drugs, the country’s drug system remains a patchwork of public and private plans. This spring, the House of Commons’ standing committee on […]