Quebec Drug Cover Program Slammed

In Canada, Quebec's new prescription drug insurance program, which took effect on August 1 after enabling legislation was rushed through, has been attacked for placing too heavy a burden on senior citizens and those on welfare. Under the program, these groups are now required to pay 25% of the cost of their medicines.

The province's ombudsman, Daniel Jacoby, has called for changes to be made to the program during the August 1-January 1, 1997, transition period, and says that the mentally-ill and people under curatorship should not have to pay for their medication. Mr Jacoby told the provincial health department that he could "only deplore" the program, and warned that he would be keeping a close eye on it, in order to "prevent foulups, undue delays and unfair treatment on account of poor program management."

The program has also been denounced by Stephen Soumerai, director of the drug policy research group at Harvard University. He told the Montreal Gazette that there was "no question" that senior citizens and welfare recipients would take fewer drugs as a result of the program, and thus endanger their health. "People will try to take less of their medications, which can be unsafe," he said.