Essay On Universal Drug Policy

Since Canada began exploring options for universal drug coverage, prescription drug policy has been developed in multiple stages. Provinces developed independent drug insurance programs as supplemental health benefits during the 1970s and 1980s to satisfy public concerns. While public health insurance programs have financed nearly all expenditures on medical care and hospital care since the 1970s, private insurance coverage grew and adapted to fill the gaps for access to prescription drugs. [1] Additionally, significant technological advancements and scientific developments made pharmaceuticals the fastest-growing component of healthcare costs from the mid-1980s through to the late 1990s.[2] Despite the increasing calls for change and improvement, there has been little expansion to provincial programs.

In the last 15 years there have been several federal proposals for a national
Bill 102, which was fought vigorously by pharmacy owners, as well as brand and generic pharmaceutical companies, became a defining moment in Canadian drug policy. Ontario buoyed by cost savings convinced politicians to step back from the decision making progress, leaving listing decisions in the hands of expert committees and a newly created Executive Officer position.

The goals of Bill 102 were expanded when the Council of the Federation provided a platform for Premier’s to lead discussions on pharmaceutical strategy through the Health Innovation Working Group. To date, the Working Group has achieved a number of successes, including lowering the cost of prescription drugs with a stated combined annual savings of over $490