The federal government’s plan to increasingly regulate pharmaceutical costs could mean Canadians with rare diseases may lose access to new innovative drug treatments, according to a new study by the Fraser Institute. In 2019, the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board is planning to use new rules for establishing drug prices with the goal of lowering costs. “Drugs for […]
As September approaches, activity in the catastrophic stop-loss insurance market will start to heat up for self-insured plan sponsors. This is when the annual dance of plans obtaining their proposed premium for the coming year, and trying to find ways to mitigate the increase, hits a fever pitch. Imagine a province, without a single provincial insurer, […]
High-cost drugs accounted for 41.6 per cent of patented medicine sales in 2017, up from 8.3 per cent a decade earlier, according to the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board’s latest annual report. Federal Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor tabled the report, which also illustrated a rise in the sales of patented medicines in 2017. Sales […]
The vast majority (87 per cent) of physicians said the knowledge that a patient has private drug coverage affects their prescribing behaviour, according to a survey by Merck Canada Inc. More specifically, the survey found 26 per cent of general practitioners and 28 per cent of specialists believe this knowledge widens the treatment options available to the patient. Other effects […]
Between 2012 and 2016, Canada’s total private drug claims market increased by a 4.7 per cent compound annual growth rate, according to new research by Innovative Medicines Canada. The analysis, which is based on IQVIA Inc.’s Canadian private drug plan claims database, aims to highlight the key drivers of private drug plan cost growth for the period. “Often the […]
Pharmacare and flexible annuity options top the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association’s list of recommendations for the upcoming 2019 federal budget. In its submission, the association stated it’s supportive of the work being done through the federal government’s advisory council on the implementation of pharmacare, introduced in last year’s budget. However, it also said it’s important to […]
How do the following sound as headlines for the cover of Benefits Canada? Are they likely to make the cut any time soon? • “My boss is 89” • “Remember when we went to the doctor’s office?” • “On-the-job diagnosis” • “Machines don’t need benefits” • “Artificial benefits” • “Shareholders elect first AI CEO (actuary’s […]
There were almost 4,000 opioid-related deaths in Canada in 2017, according to Health Canada statistics released in June. Meanwhile, in the United States, a new survey by the National Business Group on Health found 60 per cent of large employers had experienced at least one issue stemming from prescription opioid misuse or abuse in the workplace. Forty […]
In a meeting in Saint Andrews, N.B., on Friday, provincial and territorial premiers met to discuss ways to improve health care for Canadians, including the implementation of a national pharmacare program. Linda Silas, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions, was also in the meeting and said she is encouraged that there is support […]
While a national pharmacare program is likely to come with a tax hike, will that cost be balanced out by savings on prescription drugs and private drug spending? In a presentation to be delivered Friday to provincial and territorial premiers, former parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page is expected to be straightforward about the costs of a cross-country, publicly […]