![]() ![]() Approximately 20 per cent of Canadians have inadequate drug coverage or no coverage at all and must pay out of pocket. For a family or a single patient with a complex condition, those costs can add up to a significant barrier. The common refrain we heard from Canadians: we have to do better.Įven though many Canadians have some form of coverage, Canada relies on a confusing patchwork of over 100 public prescription drug plans and over 100,000 private plans-with a variety of premiums, copayments, deductibles and annual limits. We heard from both public and private prescription drug providers that the current system is near the breaking point and in need of significant, even transformational, reform. Today, drugs are the second-largest cost in Canadian health care, after hospitals and ahead of physician services. When universal health care was first proposed, prescription drugs were important but not as commonly used and much less expensive. This gap-between our values and our reality-is growing because the nature of medicine is changing. There are too many people in our country who die prematurely or suffer needlessly in ill health because cost is a barrier to accessing prescription drugs. We may enter the hospital or the doctor’s office with equal access to health care, but we don’t go home with the same prospects for a healthier future, because prescription drug coverage varies greatly from person to person, and from province to province. If the promise of universal health care is that Canadians are there for each other when we’re sick, by not including prescription drugs we’re placing a limit on that commitment. That’s why our council has recommended that Canada implement universal, single-payer, public pharmacare. After hearing from many thousands of Canadians, we found a strongly held, shared belief that everyone in Canada should have access to prescription drugs based on their need and not their ability to pay, and delivered in a manner that is fair and sustainable. For such a long-standing debate there is a surprising level of consensus. Annex 8: Sex- and gender-based analysisĬanadians have considered the idea of universal drug coverage, as a complement to universal health care, for over five decades.Annex 7: Other pharmacare models considered.Annex 5: Key characteristics of the pharmacare systems in comparator countries. ![]()
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