It’s easy to make numbers sound however you want them to sound, and numbers like 56% of brand price sound much better than “we have found a way to shave 0.6% off the cost of gabapentin, and nearly 4% off the cost of ramipril, although there isn’t much we can do for venlafaxine and simvastatin right now.”
On the positive side, these relatively modest price changes in Alberta have not negated opportunities for plan sponsors. The same thing goes in Ontario where, despite the generic drug reforms, Dalton McGuinty will still pay 100% more this year for the same generic drug compared to the 67 year old Ontario Drug Benefit voter in his riding. The upside is that we are still seeing very significant differences in drug costs being submitted across the country, which presents opportunities for sponsors well positioned to take advantage of these differences in the marketplace.
It has also been great to see that many pharmacy providers have finally begun to find religion, are no longer myopically focused solely on provincial governments, and are starting to craft new offerings to appeal to private sector plan sponsors. Some of these programs look interesting, and others are a complete waste of time, but it’s nice to see private plan sponsors commanding more attention and respect from their customer base—one worth billions of dollars a year. I can’t think of another market that spends that much money on its customers every year, and yet have been virtually ignored for this long.
There is opportunity in the market to contain costs and extract better value and health outcomes for money invested in employee health benefits, it’s just not at the foot of our legislative colleagues.
Mike Sullivan is President of Cubic Health Inc., a Toronto-based drug plan management company.