ArticleCMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne2015
Estimated cost of universal public coverage of prescription drugs in Canada.
Article in CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 46 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
46 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A systematic umbrella review of the association of prescription drug insurance and cost-sharing with drug use, health services use, and health.BMC health services research · 2022Pooled it
- Cost-related medication nonadherence in Canada: a systematic review of prevalence, predictors, and clinical impact.Systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- Universal Pharmacare and Contraceptive Dispensations Among Youth.JAMA pediatrics · 2025Article
- Article
- The first, fragile foundations of national pharmacare in Canada.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2024Article
- Health Canada advisory impacts on the prevalence of oral codeine use in the Pediatric Canadian population: comparative study across provinces.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Universal drug coverage for Canada: It's time.Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique · 2022Article
- Acceptability of a short list of essential medicines to patients and prescribers: Multimethod study.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2022Article
- After More Than 50 Years, Pharmacare (and Dental Care) are Coming to Canada.International journal of health services : planning, administration, evaluation · 2022Article
- Medication Gaps and Antipsychotic Polypharmacy in Previously Hospitalized Schizophrenia Patients: An Electronic Cohort Study in Three Canadian Provinces.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
- Increasing Prevalence and Direct Health Care Cost of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Among Adults: A Population-Based Study From a Western Canadian Province.Journal of the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology · 2021Article
- Outpatient oral anticancer agent utilization and costs in Manitoba from 2003 to 2016: a population-based study.Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique · 2021Article
- The Impact of Prescription Medication Cost Coverage on Oral Medication Use for Hypertension and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.Healthcare policy = Politiques de sante · 2020Article
- Resident-Level Predictors of Dementia Pharmacotherapy at Long-Term Care Admission: The Impact of Different Drug Reimbursement Policies in Ontario and Saskatchewan: Prédicteurs de la pharmacothérapie de la démence au niveau des résidents lors de l'hospitalisation dans des soins de longue durée : l'impact de différentes politiques de remboursement des médicaments en Ontario et en Saskatchewan.Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie · 2020Article
- Universal Pharmacare in Canada: A Prescription for Equity in Healthcare.International journal of health policy and management · 2020Article
- Election 2019: unprecedented hope for universal pharmacare.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2019Article
- Universal access to no-cost contraception for youth in Canada.Paediatrics & child health · 2019Review
- How to pay for national pharmacare.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2018Article
- Drug coverage in Canada: gaps and opportunities.Journal of psychiatry & neuroscience : JPN · 2018Article
- Canada's universal health-care system: achieving its potential.Lancet (London, England) · 2018Review
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundWith the exception of Canada, all countries with universal health insurance systems provide universal coverage of prescription drugs. Progress toward universal public drug coverage in Canada has been slow, in part because of concerns about the potential costs. We sought to estimate the cost of implementing universal public coverage of prescription drugs in Canada.
methodsWe used published data on prescribing patterns and costs by drug type, as well as source of funding (i.e., private drug plans, public drug plans and out-of-pocket expenses), in each province to estimate the cost of universal public coverage of prescription drugs from the perspectives of government, private payers and society as a whole. We estimated the cost of universal public drug coverage based on its anticipated effects on the volume of prescriptions filled, products selected and prices paid. We selected these parameters based on current policies and practices seen either in a Canadian province or in an international comparator.
resultsUniversal public drug coverage would reduce total spending on prescription drugs in Canada by $7.3 billion (worst-case scenario $4.2 billion, best-case scenario $9.4 billion). The private sector would save $8.2 billion (worst-case scenario $6.6 billion, best-case scenario $9.6 billion), whereas costs to government would increase by about $1.0 billion (worst-case scenario $5.4 billion net increase, best-case scenario $2.9 billion net savings). Most of the projected increase in government costs would arise from a small number of drug classes.
interpretationThe long-term barrier to the implementation of universal pharmacare owing to its perceived costs appears to be unjustified. Universal public drug coverage would likely yield substantial savings to the private sector with comparatively little increase in costs to government.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.