Public drug plan expenditures increased by an additional 1.9% in fiscal year 2016-17, following growth of 10.8% the previous year, reaching a total of $10.7 billion, according to a Patented Medicine Prices Review Board’s (PMPRB) report. The increase in public plan drug costs was driven by a greater use of higher-cost drugs combined with reduced generic savings and a decline in the use of direct-acting antiviral drugs for hepatitis C. Higher-cost drugs continue to be the most pronounced driver, pushing costs upward by 4.4% in 2016-17. Jurisdictions with higher overall growth rates in drug costs included P.E.I. (13.4%), the NIHB (6.4%), Ontario (3.4%) and New Brunswick (3.0%). Medications costing more than $10,000 annually grew by 17.2%. PMPRB notes high-cost medicines were used by less than 2% of public drug plan beneficiaries but accounted for almost 28% of the total drug spend.
Related News:
Les dépenses du régime public d'assurance-médicaments continuent d'augmenter en 2016-2017 - CEPMB