More than half (55 per cent) of Canadians were covered under employer-sponsored drug plans in 2019, while roughly a third were covered under government-sponsored plans (21 per cent), private plans (six per cent) and association-sponsored plans (five per cent), according to a new report by Statistics Canada.
Nearly 50 per cent of recent and established immigrants were covered under employer-sponsored drug plans, compared to 56 per cent of individuals born in Canada. As well, 56 per cent of non-racialized men and women were covered under employer-sponsored drug plans.
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Among racialized groups, 50 per cent of Black men and 47 per cent of Black women were covered under employer-sponsored drug plans. Chinese women (45 per cent) and men (44 per cent) had the lowest rates of employer-sponsored drug insurance coverage. Some racialized groups had rates of employer-sponsored coverage similar to the non-racialized population, particularly South Asian women (53 per cent) and South Asian men (52 per cent).
Generally, uninsured women were more likely than uninsured men to skip prescription drugs because of cost (15 per cent versus 11 per cent, respectively). However, among those with employer-sponsored drug plans, women were also more likely than men to skip filling their prescription drugs due to cost (four per cent compared to three per cent, respectively). This was also the case among those with government-sponsored drug insurance plans (seven per cent for women compared to five per cent for men).