BC FORUM - report available from Pharmacare 2020 website “Pharmacare 2020:
The Future of Drug Coverage in Canada” September, 2016 Download and read the report here. Visit the website here. From the Foreword published in the report: We are pleased to present this report, Pharmacare 2020, which is the culmination of many years of research and collaboration involving academics, health professionals, policy-makers, and public interest groups. Pharmacare 2020 was a collaborative initiative of the Pharmaceutical Policy Research Collaboration, a CIHR/Health Canada Emerging Team on Equity in Access to Necessary Medicines (2009-2014). Its goal was to foster evidence- informed conversation on the future of prescription drug coverage in Canada. The name, Pharmacare 2020, was chosen because it alluded to two important issues. First, we were motivated to address the lack of a clear vision in policy discussions concerning what Pharmacare is or what it ought to be. Although the term Pharmacare has been used in Canada since the 1960s, many people have rightfully asked what it means. We therefore sought to provide a clear vision of Pharmacare by identifying the principles and features of a system of drug coverage in Canada that would best achieve the key goals of prescription drug financing policy. We arrived at the final vision through a combination of dialogue with researchers, policy-makers, patients, health charities, health professionals, and industry stakeholders and rigorous pharmaceutical policy research, much of which we have published in top journals and with leading think-tanks. In the end, theory, evidence, and policy experience all pointed toward a clear and coherent vision of a system of prescription drug benefits that would best address the following four key policy goals for Canadians: • Access: universal access to necessary medicines • Fairness: fair distribution of prescription drug costs • Safety: safe and appropriate prescribing • Value for money: maximum health benefits per dollar spent. The vision is of a public drug plan that follows four policy recommendations: 1. Provide universal coverage of selected medicines at little or no direct cost to patients through Pharmacare. 2. Select and finance medically necessary prescription drugs at a population level without needs-based charges such as deductibles, coinsurance, or risk-rated premiums on individuals or other plan sponsors (e.g., businesses). 3. Establish a publicly accountable body to manage Pharmacare, one that integrates the best available data and evidence into decisions concerning drug coverage, drug prescribing, and patient follow-up. 4. Establish Pharmacare as a single-payer system with a publicly accountable management agency to secure the best health outcomes for Canadians from a transparent drug budget. This is Pharmacare for Canada. It would work in conjunction with Canadian Medicare to promote the health and well-being of Canadians. This vision of what Pharmacare is or should be for Canada is shared not only by the authors of this final report. The recommendations of this report have been reviewed and endorsed by over 100 university-affiliated professors and clinical experts in pharmaceutical policy, health policy, health economics, health services research, medicine, pharmacy, nursing, and psychology. Furthermore, the public opinion research by the Angus Reid Institute that is cited in this report suggests that a vast majority of Canadians share this vision too. The second important issue that the name Pharmacare 2020 alludes to is a timeline. Canada has been waiting for Pharmacare since the 1960s. The vision is now clear. Thus, the task turns to the art and science of program development and implementation. This will be difficult and will require political leadership and inter-jurisdictional collaboration but it is not impossible, as Canadian Medicare has shown. This led to our fifth policy recommendation: 5. Fully implement Pharmacare - a public drug plan that is universal, comprehensive, evidence-based, and sustainable by 2020. We chose 2020 because it defines a reasonable timeline for reform short enough to ensure that action is taken soon, but long enough to ensure that implementation is done right. We hope the readers of this report will agree and will work collaboratively toward implementation of Pharmacare by 2020. Respectfully, Steven G. Morgan, PhD, University of British Columbia Danielle Martin, MD, CCFP, MPP, University of Toronto Marc-Andre Gagnon, PhD, Carleton University Barbara Mintzes, PhD, University of Sydney Jamie R. Daw, MSc, Harvard University Joel Lexchin, MD, MSc, York University | 
