prescription drug insurance

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Rather than nationalizing pharmacare, policymakers should simply improve our current systems

In Alberta, just about everyone under 65 can enroll in the province’s plan.


1:57PM
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Provinces already employ various programs to assist vulnerable populations with medication costs.


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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.