This study examines the rate (percentage) of new drugs covered under public and private plans, as well as the wait (days) for new drugs to be covered. It includes all new prescription drugs approved safe and effective by Health Canada from 2008 to 2017. Drug plan coverage status was checked as of June 30, 2018. The findings are relevant because the federal government has proposed replacing Canada’s current prescription drug insurance system with a single-payer public drug plan called National Pharmacare. The scope of coverage in existing public drug plans is indicative of the quality of benefits that will be provided under National Pharmacare. This analysis shows that National Pharmacare will affect your access to medicines differently depending on whether you have a private or a public drug plan.
Consecutive EN/FR sections in one paper.
