Editing Medicare (Canada) (section)

===Drug coverage===
Unlike every other country with universal health insurance systems, Canada lacks a universal pharmaceutical subsidy scheme, with co-payment, cost ceilings, and special subsidy groups varying by private insurer and by province.<ref>{{cite journal | pmc = 4401594 | pmid=25780047 | doi=10.1503/cmaj.141564 | volume=187 | issue=7 | title=Estimated cost of universal public coverage of prescription drugs in Canada | year=2015 | journal=CMAJ | pages=491–7 |vauthors=Morgan SG, Law M, Daw JR, Abraham L, Martin D }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/17685108|title=From the city to the bush: increases in patient co-payments for medicines have impacted on medicine use across Australia|journal=Australian Health Review|first1=Kemp|last1=Anna|first2=Glover|last2=John|first3=Preen, David|last3=B.|first4=Bulsara|last4=Max|first5=Semmens|last5=James|first6=Roughead, Elizabeth|last6=E.|volume=37|issue=1|pages=4–10|doi=10.1071/AH11129|pmid=23157851|year=2013}}</ref> Each province may provide its own prescription drug benefit plan, although the ''Canada Health Act'' requires only coverage for pharmaceuticals delivered to hospital inpatients.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.drugcoverage.ca/default.asp |title=Prescription Drug Coverage in Canada |publisher=Drugcoverage.ca |access-date=June 6, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110621032832/http://www.drugcoverage.ca/default.asp |archive-date=June 21, 2011 }}</ref> Provincial prescription drug benefit plans differ across provinces. Some provinces cover only those in particular age groups (usually, seniors) and/or those on social assistance. Others are more universal. Quebec achieves universal coverage through a combination of private and public plans. Co-payments also vary.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/21/40/37868186.pdf |title=Valérie Paris and Elizabeth Docteur. Pharmaceutical Pricing and Reimbursement Policies in Canada. OECD Health Working Papers 24, 2006. |access-date=June 6, 2011}}</ref> Provinces maintain their own provincial formularies, although the [[Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health|Common Drug Review]] provides evidence-based formulary listing recommendations to the provincial ministries. Note that there is ongoing controversy in Canada, as in other countries, about inclusion of expensive drugs and discrepancies in their availability, as well as in what if any provisions are made for allowing medications not yet approved to be administered under "exceptional drug" provisions.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.drugcoverage.ca/p_rejected_claims.asp?language=1 |title=on rejected claims |publisher=Drugcoverage.ca |access-date=June 6, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514101531/http://www.drugcoverage.ca/p_rejected_claims.asp?language=1 |archive-date=May 14, 2011 }}</ref> Drug costs are contentious. Their prices are controlled by the [[Patented Medicine Prices Review Board]] (PMPRB).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pmprb-cepmb.gc.ca/english/home.asp?x=1 |title=PMPRB Home page. Accessed Dec 26, 2007 |publisher=Pmprb-cepmb.gc.ca |access-date=June 6, 2011}}</ref> The PMPRB's pricing formula ensures that Canada pays prices based on the average of those charged to selected countries; they are neither the highest, nor the lowest.

Since Medicare has been adopted, there have been regular pushes to add universal pharmacare to it. This came to a head in 2022, when the New Democratic Party and the governing Liberal Party negotiated a supply and confidence agreement, with pharmacare being one of the core concessions the Liberals made in exchange for the NDP's confidence. As a result of this coalition, Canada's pharmacare act received royal assent on October 10, 2024, with the first phase creating a single payer system for contraceptives and diabetic medications, as well as the creation of a government agency to identify which drugs will be added next. Since becoming law, the federal government has begun negotiating with the provinces on how it will be implemted, with British Columbia becoming the first province to sign on to the program.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Canada's pharmacare bill is now law. What this means for you - National {{!}} Globalnews.ca |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/10807237/canada-pharmacare-plan-what-to-know/ |access-date=2024-11-13 |website=Global News |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Canada |first=Health |date=2024-10-10 |title=Government of Canada Passes Legislation for a First Phase of National Universal Pharmacare |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/news/2024/10/government-of-canada-passes-legislation-for-a-first-phase-of-national-universal-pharmacare.html |access-date=2024-11-13 |website=www.canada.ca}}</ref>