McGuinty government only winning half the war on drugs

Sure, the Liberals have saved Ontario taxpayers millions; but, as a result, most Ontarians under the age of 65 pay more for drugs

From today's Globe and Mail (Adam Radwanski)

According to industry observers, the costs of company drug plans are rising by 10 to 15 per cent annually. The result is that those plans are covering less, with Ontarians who don't qualify for the ODB forced to pick up a growing percentage of prescription prices.

It wasn't intended that way. But since Bill 102 overhauled the province's prescription policies four years ago, the consequence has been a large discrepancy between what the public and private drug plans pay for both brand and generic pharmaceuticals.

... [go read the article ;) ]

As a result, while the government is paying much less for generics than it used to, private plans and cash-paying customers have seen prices go up by nearly an equivalent amount.

And why does the public end up in this situation?

The system has evolved this way without most Ontarians noticing, because there's no organized lobby protesting the rising private costs.

A pithy comment on how pharma regulation works...