کد مقاله کد نشریه سال انتشار مقاله انگلیسی نسخه تمام متن
4198016 1279033 2012 8 صفحه PDF دانلود رایگان
عنوان انگلیسی مقاله ISI
Stitching the gaps in the Canadian public drug coverage patchwork? A review of provincial pharmacare policy changes from 2000 to 2010
موضوعات مرتبط
علوم پزشکی و سلامت پزشکی و دندانپزشکی سیاست های بهداشت و سلامت عمومی
پیش نمایش صفحه اول مقاله
Stitching the gaps in the Canadian public drug coverage patchwork? A review of provincial pharmacare policy changes from 2000 to 2010
چکیده انگلیسی

ObjectivesTo describe recent changes and identify emergent trends in public drug benefit policies in Canada from 2000 to 2010.MethodsFor each province, we tracked pharmacare design (namely eligibility, premiums, and patient cost-sharing) over time for three beneficiary groups: social assistance recipients, seniors, and the general non-senior population. We assess which plan designs are emerging as a national standard, where the gaps in public coverage remain, and implications for progress towards national pharmacare.ResultsExpansion of public drug coverage has been limited. For social assistance recipients, first-dollar coverage is the standard. Seniors coverage remains varied, though means testing of eligibility or cost-sharing is common. Seniors benefits were significantly expanded in only one province. As of 2010, six provinces have embraced age irrelevant catastrophic income-based coverage, in some, resulting in the elimination of seniors drug benefits.ConclusionsUniversal income-based catastrophic coverage appears to be emerging as an implicit national standard for provincial pharmacare. However, due to the variation and high level of patient cost-sharing required under these programs, convergence on this model does not equate to substantial progress towards expanding coverage or reducing interprovincial disparities. Leverage of federal spending power to promote standards for public drug coverage is necessary to uniformly protect Canadians against high drug costs.

ناشر
Database: Elsevier - ScienceDirect (ساینس دایرکت)
Journal: Health Policy - Volume 104, Issue 1, January 2012, Pages 19–26
نویسندگان
, ,