It is Time for A National Drug Plan!

[Spade]

CBC News - Politics - National drug plan could save billions: study

From the article; quote:

"The report, released on Monday by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, concludes the existing patchwork of private and public plans in Canada is inequitable, inefficient and costly.

"'Canada’s pharmaceutical policies are a total failure,' the study's author, Marc-André Gagnon, told reporters on Monday in Ottawa.

"The report also finds that Canada is either the third or fourth most expensive country for brand-name drugs every year — after the United States, Switzerland and Germany — because it deliberately inflates drug prices in order to attract pharmaceutical investment."

It is not just time; it's high time!

 

[Bar Sinister]

I have mentioned the need for a national pharmacare program in a number of my posts dealing with the reform of Canada's health care system. It is interesting to note that a recent news story listed the high cost of medication in Canada as the leading cause of bankruptcy among the retired in Canada. Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada - Growing Old Gracefully, An Investigation into the Growing Number of Bankrupt Canadians over age 55 — Part 6
Here is a quote from that source:
15% declared medical reasons the primary cause, although it was unclear from the data whether this was the costs of care over and above the Medicare system or income loss due to medical reasons, or some combination of both.
Elizabeth Warren and Melissa Jacoby, looking at the situation in the United States, have suggested that when medical reasons are cited as a cause of consumer bankruptcy, the normal case is attributable to some combination of causes, specifically, direct health care costs, loss of income due to medical problems or loss of income due to caregiving responsibilities in connection with medical problems14. In the files studied in this project, a number of those citing medical reasons as the principal cause also cited loss of employment income; hence there is likely some linkage there.



Although the article does not state prescription costs as the main medical expense it seems that the high cost of medications or maintaining medical plans is more than many retired Canadians can handle.


It is also a problem for those who are early in their working careers and do not have a good supplementary insurance plan. Many young workers cannot afford medications for problems as basic as dealing with diabetes or similar medical problems.

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

Totally a good idea. A national plan does not mean a federal plan. The provinces would coordinate their systems and share info.

Right now we have 14 separate medical systems (10 provs, 3 terrs, 1 fed) in the country. People moving to other provinces have to pay fees for X-rays and the like. The whole system ought to be portable between provinces. End these practices that make feudalistic fiefdoms province to province and let's increase efficiency.

I mean, you can your money while traveling through the third world. Those security protocols seem to work there, so why not here for medical information records?

 

[Bar Sinister]

Totally a good idea. A national plan does not mean a federal plan. The provinces would coordinate their systems and share info.

Right now we have 14 separate medical systems (10 provs, 3 terrs, 1 fed) in the country. People moving to other provinces have to pay fees for X-rays and the like. The whole system ought to be portable between provinces. End these practices that make feudalistic fiefdoms province to province and let's increase efficiency.

I mean, you can your money while traveling through the third world. Those security protocols seem to work there, so why not here for medical information records?

Agreed, but the situation regarding medical plans is much worse than just having fourteen different public systems; there is also the fact that there are dozens of private insurance companies providing supplementary insurance. This results in an inefficient US style system in which a great deal of money is spent on administering these various plans. Due to the fact that many of these plans are in competition with one another rather than working together it also keeps drug costs high as there is little incentive to buy in bulk.