Annual expenditures on drugs in public plans exceeded $12 billion in 2018-19
OTTAWA, ON, Dec. 18, 2020 /CNW/ - The latest edition of the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board's (PMPRB) CompassRx report reveals that prescription drug expenditures for the National Prescription Drug Utilization Information System (NPDUIS) public drug plans increased by 5.6% in 2018/19 to reach $12.1 billion, driven primarily by a considerable rise in the use of higher-cost drugs coupled with greater than average impacts from plan design changes and the use of generic drugs.
The PMPRB's CompassRx report monitors and analyzes the cost pressures driving changes in prescription drug expenditures in Canadian public drug plans. This sixth edition of CompassRx provides insight into the factors driving growth in drug and dispensing costs in 2018/19, as well as a retrospective review of recent trends in public drug plan costs and utilization.
The study includes all provincial public drug plans (with the exception of Quebec), as well as Yukon and the Non-Insured Health Benefits Program. These plans account for approximately one third of the total annual spending on prescription drugs in Canada.
Quick Facts
- Between 2013-14 and 2018-19, total prescription drug expenditures for Canada's public drug plans rose by $3 billion, at an average annual rate of 5.5%.
- Drug costs in NPDUIS public plans grew by 5.8% in 2018-19, accounting for $9.7 billion of a total $12.1 billion in public drug plan expenditures, while dispensing costs grew by 5.1%.
- The increased use of higher-cost medicines exerted an upward pressure on drug costs of 6.7% in 2018-19, of which 3.3% can be attributed to 10 drugs with high annual treatment costs or large patient populations.
- Savings from price reductions and generic and biosimilar substitution increased considerably in 2018-19 as a result of recent generic pricing initiatives, pulling costs down by 6.2%.
- The introduction of the OHIP+ program in Ontario contributed 4.7% to the growth in drug costs across all jurisdictions, with more than 2 million active beneficiaries filling nearly 12 million prescriptions.
Associated Links
- CompassRx, 6th Edition: Annual Public Drug Plan Expenditure Report, 2018/19. (Patented Medicine Prices Review Board)
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SOURCE Patented Medicine Prices Review Board
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Related Links
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