Last week, to great fanfare and much media attention across the country, the Canadian Medical Association Journal announced the publication of a new study trumpeting the great benefits Canada would accrue by going ahead with national government funded pharmaceutical drug coverage.
pharmacare
July 5, 2011
6:00PM
There has been much discussion in the past 10 years about whether Canada needs a national Pharmacare plan. While the idea might appeal to some, the plan is driven by ideology as opposed to common sense.
Undoubtedly, it is clear that reform of provincial drug plans is necessary. However a national government plan is a step in the wrong direction and will only exacerbate the current situation where leaves millions of Canadians dont have access to the medicines they need.
August 7, 2007
6:00PM
B.C. doctors have called on the province to curb spending on prescription drugs. The docs say annual spending increases are unsustainable. The Health Minister has toyed with imposing a cap on public drug budgets. But these folks have their facts seriously wrong.
Why focus only on drug budgets? What about other types of health spending, like the money spent on physicians and hospitals?
May 6, 2003
2:00AM
The newspapers and airwaves are filled with people fuming about Fair Pharmacare. There are three major complaints (other than the challenge of getting through to Pharmacare to register). Firstly, that Fair Pharmacare forces patients to pay more of their own money for prescriptions. Secondly, that the requirement to report your income is a violation of privacy. Thirdly, that it is inappropriate to use income from 2001 to determine benefits in 2003.
February 27, 2003
2:00AM
The provincial government has finally decided to cut back on one small area of health spending, by significantly increasing user fees for Pharmacare. Although many British Columbians are under the misapprehension that the Liberal government cut back health care spending, spending increased the day it took over from the NDP.
December 4, 2002
2:00AM
Faced with a crowd of 2,000 seniors protesting in front of the provincial legislature last Tuesday, the provincial government reneged on its commitment to a means test for Pharmacare benefits. This is a bad sign. Seniors currently pay a maximum 75 cents a day ($275 per year) for prescription drugs that are listed by Pharmacare, and taxpayers pick up the rest. If the government is afraid to take the baby step of means testing for Pharmacare, it is unlikely to make more significant reforms that are necessary to improve health care in British Columbia.
November 29, 2002
2:00AM
October 21, 2002
2:00AM
The existence of independent provincial Pharmacare programs and private insurance for prescription drugs is considered by some to be a blot on Canadian medicare. They want these options abolished in favour of National Pharmacare.
Health care costs are rising, and prescription drugs are taking up a larger share of those costs, but the change is a lot less dramatic than people think. Prescription drug costs were 8 percent of total health costs in 1991, and 12 percent in 2001, an average increase of less than half a percentage point a year.
October 4, 2002
2:00AM
In his opinion about reforming Pharmacare on October 3, Victor Vrsnik, of the usually sensible Canadian Taxpayers Federation, resurrected the fantasy of a national pharmacare plan. He supposes that the purchasing power of the federal government would somehow lead to lower prices. This is a surprising statement from the CTF, which has done great work exposing how incompetent the government is at purchasing other goods.
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