Posted by Michael Wonder on 25 Jul 2019
Quebec’s public-private pharmacare model provides more generous—and timely—access to new drugs
25 July 2019 - Quebec’s universal pharmacare system, which relies on both a public plan and private insurance providers, covers more drugs and provides quicker access to new medicines than other Canadian provinces, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.
Last month, a federally-appointed advisory panel (headed by former Ontario health minister Dr. Eric Hoskins) released a report calling for a government-run taxpayer-funded national pharmacare program—vastly different from Quebec’s system.
“The Quebec model is proof that you can have universal—and generous—drug coverage using a mix of public and private insurance,” said Yanick Labrie, Fraser Institute senior fellow and author of Lessons from the Quebec Universal Prescription Drug Insurance Program.
