Prescription for change: the case for a national drug plan
BehindTheNumbers.ca – national-drug-plan/
September 25, 2015. Canadian Health Coalition
Canada is the only country with public health care and no national drug plan. This means that 24% of Canadians have no coverage for medications prescribed by their doctor.
We need a national drug plan that takes care of everyone. Tommy Douglas, founder of Canada’s universal Medicare system, didn’t intend for public health care to include only hospitals and doctors. This was intended to be just the beginning, with coverage of drugs and other services to follow.
Our current patchwork of provincial programs and work-based plans means that access to drugs depends on where you live and where you work. Most Canadians are covered by private drug insurance plans through their jobs. These plans vary enormously and are lost if the worker quits or is laid off, and sometimes even when he or she retires. But for the 24% of Canadians with no coverage at all, the cost of medications falls to them alone. This could mean thousands of dollars annually on the backs of those without workplace coverage.
Last year alone 1 in 10 people in Canada did not fill a prescription because of the cost. This leads to people taking lower than prescribed dosages or not taking their medications at all. In many cases this will compromise a person’s health and cause their return to the hospital for further care. This lack of care puts the patient’s health at risk and increases the unnecessary strain on the hospital system.
The current patchwork of plans does nothing to restrain drug costs. Not only do work-based drug plans provide limited benefits and little security, administering thousands of different plans is expensive and inefficient. In addition to saving administrative costs and choosing safer, less-expensive well-established drugs, a national drug plan would allow for bargaining with the pharmaceutical companies to pay lower prices for drugs.
Canada could save $11B through the implementation of a national drug plan.
A national drug plan would also be able to work with the medical profession to improve prescribing practices by giving doctors independent information on the value and benefits of the treatments they’re considering.
A national drug plan must:
– be publically funded and administrated;
– control costs;
– provide universal access at no cost to patients;
– ensure safe and appropriate use of medications.
It would cover essential drug costs the way Medicare covers hospitals and physicians, providing universal access to safe and appropriate care.
Without a national drug plan, Canadians will continue to pay some of the highest prices for medications in the OECD while many families face the financial strain of covering these costs. It is no longer acceptable to provide access to physicians but not the medications they prescribe.
For more information about a national drug plan, visit Canadian Health Coalition’s new website Healthcare for All, or the CCPA report The Economic Case for Universal Pharmacare (2010).
Melissa Newitt is a CCPA Research Associate and the National Coordinator (Interim) of the Canadian Health Coalition. You can follow Melissa on Twitter @melissanewitt.
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Tags: budget, disabilities, Health, ideology, mental Health, pharmaceutical, standard of living, tax
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Affordable medication is an issue that many Canadians face. A point made in this article that spoke to me the most is the point on how most Canadians are covered by private drug insurance plans through their employers, but 24% of Canadians with no coverage at all are responsible for the full cost of their medication. So the people without private insurance through employment or without pay-into insurance are stuck with the bill. There are programs in each province that helps cover the full or partial cost of medications but the individual has to meet the eligibility requirements or must be using a specific drug that is on a list that the government covers within the program. Or has a specific disease or condition that the cost of the medication used for that condition is covered. Even with programs implemented, people who do not meet the eligibility are still stuck with the full price. Canada needs to continue looking into universal pharmacare in order to help families who cannot afford their medications. The government kept saying it will cost too much to implement but universal pharmacare could save them up to $11 billion annually with buying generic brands, buying in bulk and negotiating prices with drug companies. Because people are not covered by insurance and cannot afford their medication, they are beginning to take less than the recommended dose or avoid taking their medication all together; which can lead to more complications. The Liberal government agrees with implementing a universal pharmacare and programs that will help families afford certain medications. I just hope Justin Trudeau begins to talk about this issue soon as drug prices continue to rise.