A national pharmacare plan in Canada could save up to C$10.7 billion a year, says new study

A universal public pharmacare plan in Canada could generate savings of up to C$10.7 billion ($10.36 billion) on prescription drugs, says a new study released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) and the Institut de recherche et d’informations socio-economiques (IRIS).

The study, by Carleton University professor and Harvard research fellow, Marc-Andre Gagnon finds Canadians could save between 10% and 42% - up to $10.7 billion - of total drug expenditures, depending on the choice of industrial policies related to drug costs.

“Canadians cannot afford not to have universal pharmacare,” says Prof Gagnon, adding: “Canada’s pharmaceutical policies are a total failure: many Canadians do not have equitable access to medicines; the lack of coverage makes some treatments inefficient; and the whole system is unsustainable because we currently cannot control the growth of drug costs.”