In June 2019, the Minister of Health tabled a report, A Prescription for Canada: Achieving Pharmacare for All,
recommending that Canada implement universal, single-payer, public pharmacare (Pharmacare). On October 12, 2023, the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) published a report, the Cost Estimate of a Single-payer Universal Drug Plan. A Pharmacare bill may be tabled in the fall of 2023.
The report analyzes the expected prescription drug expenditures under Pharmacare compared to the current system over a five-year period. The estimated costs are based on a framework for Pharmacare that was provided to the PBO by the House of Commons Standing
Committee on Health in September 2016. Specifically, the PBO assumed that Pharmacare would:
- Be a universal plan;
- Replace existing public and private drug plans;
- Use the Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ) formulary as the national formulary; and
- Require a $5 co-payment for all prescriptions of brand-name drugs, with enumerated exemptions.
Key findings of the report include:
- Total drug expenditures, under Pharmacare, are estimated to be $33.2 billion in 2024-2025, increasing to $38.9 billion in 2027-2028;
- The incremental cost to the public sector (i.e., federal and provincial governments combined) is estimated to be $11.2 billion in 2024-25, increasing to $13.4 billion in 2027-28; and
- Cost savings on drug expenditures, under Pharmacare, are estimated to be $1.4 billion in 2024-2025, rising to $2.2 billion in 2027-2028.
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact a member of the Life Sciences Regulatory & Compliance Group.
The preceding is intended as a timely update on Canadian intellectual property and technology law. The content is informational only and does not constitute legal or professional advice. To obtain such advice, please communicate with our offices directly.
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