It’s often held up as an example to the world, but the Canadian system doesn’t cover essential medications.
Today Canadians, however, face the second-highest drug costs in the industrialised world, after Americans. And they are forced to cover those costs either out of their own pockets, or through a patchwork of provincial and private drug plans.
The result has left many in Canada choosing between meeting their basic needs or complying with the doctors’ orders, said Hassan Yussuff of the Canadian Labour Congress. “If you’re not fortunate enough to work for a sizeable employer that has the resources to provide you with benefits, you’re left on your own,” he said. Nobody should have to choose between paying for groceries or the medication they need,” he said. “Those choices should not be happening in a modern country as ours.”
Nearly one million Canadians sacrificed food and heating last year in order to afford prescription drugs, according to a new report.
Despite having a universal health care system, Canada remains the only developed country in the world with no universal drug plan. It also has the second-highest drug prices in the industrialized world.
The report by health researchers from four universities across the country – estimated that 968,000 people scaled back their spending last year – including 730,000 who cut back on food and another 238,000 on heating – in order to afford prescribed medication.
The study, also revealed that more than 1.6 million Canadians either skipped doses or were unable to fill prescriptions because of cost constraints.
“It’s a big issue, a big problem,” Danielle Martin, a Toronto doctor, told Sanders in a recent podcast. “I have patients who take their pills every other day, or who take them for a few weeks and then have to wait until the cheque comes in to fill it again.”
The problem disproportionately affects younger people, low income residents and uninsured people. Indigenous people reported twice the challenges compared to the rest of the population – and women had more difficulty paying for medications than men.
Researchers warn that the large number of people unable to access prescription drugs put pressure on other parts of Canada’s health service.
“You squeeze the balloon at one end and it blows up a little bit on the other. Those same individuals – because their health deteriorates – are more likely to end up in health care system,” said Law. “You’ll see more hospital or physician expenditures as a result of that – which of course the public purse pays for.”
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