A citizens’ panel is urging the federal government to set up a universal drug coverage program in Canada to eliminate variations between the provinces and territories and provide a safety net for Canadians who have no private drug insurance.
The Citizens’ Reference Panel on Pharmacare in Canada, comprised of 35 randomly selected volunteers from across Canada, met in Ottawa for five days and heard from 20 experts to produce a report on the issue.
The report, entitled “Necessary Medicines”, was presented today to the House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Health.
“The panelists were surprised to learn that many Canadians do not have adequate drug coverage and that Canadians on average spend considerably more for medically-necessary drugs than most other countries with comparable health care systems,” says Peter MacLeod, the panel’s chair. “They believe the government should act and create a national pharmacare system that is equitable and cost-effective.”
As a first step towards a comprehensive public drug plan, the panel also calls on Ottawa to move immediately to implement public coverage for a short list of basic, frequently prescribed drugs.
This short list would begin the shift towards a comprehensive universal pharmacare system and become the basis for a new national formulary, the report says.
- Creating a new national formulary of universally publicly covered medicines that accommodates the full range of individual patient needs, including rare diseases.
- Requiring all covered drugs to undergo a rigorous evaluation process to ensure both the efficacy and value-for‐money of funded treatments.
- Endorsing an ongoing role for private insurers in providing supplemental coverage.
Canada is the only developed country with universal health coverage that does not also offer universal prescription drug benefits.
An estimated one in 10 Canadians can’t fill prescriptions because of the expense.
With files from CBC News
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