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This is part of the executive summary of the Drummond Commission on Ontario public services:
Pharmaceuticals are a major issue. Ontario needs an open, honest discussion of whether there should be more public coverage of pharmaceutical costs. At the same time, we should ask if payments under the Ontario Drug Benefit (ODB) program, which covers almost all of the cost of prescription drugs for seniors and recipients of social assistance, should be linked more directly to income. One option is to make the portion of pharmaceutical costs paid for by seniors rise more sharply as income increases. A better option is to link the benefit not to age, but to income only. This option would greatly strengthen the equity of the program and remove a large brick in the “welfare wall” by covering low-income non-seniors who do not receive social assistance. Savings would obviously be greater under the first option. The Commission regrets that there was no modelling of these options that would have clarified the net fiscal impact; it should be done. In 2003, British Columbia changed its age-dependent program into one that links solely to income.
One potential way to reduce overall drug costs is to pursue with other provinces the possibility of setting a common price for pharmaceuticals. Provinces could also reduce overlapping regulations that add costs and present barriers to new drugs entering the market efficiently. The ICES and HQO should also conduct drug comparisons to determine which is the most efficient at treating a given ailment; current tests by Health Canada do not do this. The government should ensure that all new drugs add value that exceeds their cost. As mentioned elsewhere, Ontario should work with the federal government to ensure that Ontario’s interests in expanding use of generic drugs are not undermined by a Canada–EU Free Trade Agreement. The province should also use pharmacists to their full scope of practice, allowing them to substitute a less expensive alternative to the physician’s prescription. They should also be allowed to administer injectables and inhalant medications and prescribe for minor ailments, as is done in Saskatchewan.
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Ken Gray is an Ottawa journalist who was the Citizen’s city editorial page editor, municipal affairs reporter and a member of the newspaper’s editorial board. He writes a weekly column Wednesdays in the Citizen. During the early ’90s, he edited the Southam News-Toronto Star First Edition, one of the first new media ventures in Canada. For more than three decades, he has worked in many posts from reporter to senior editor at the Montreal Gazette, the Winnipeg Free Press, the London Free Press, the Regina Leader-Post and the Citizen. As well, Gray founded and taught a course in media law and municipal government at Algonquin College. He earned a master’s journalism degree and a honours bachelor’s history degree at the University of Western Ontario in the 1970s.
Ottawa’s Community Associations
Federation of Citizens’ Associations of Ottawa-Carleton, Alta Vista, Beacon Hill , Beaverbrook Kanata , Bellwood, Blackburn Hamlet, Briarbrook Morgan’s Grant, Bridlewood, Canterbury, Cardinal Creek , Carleton Heights, Carlington, Carlingwood, Carlsbad Springs , Cedarhill, Central Park , Centrepointe, Centretown, Chapel Hill South, Civic Hospital Neighbourhood , Constance & Buckhams Bay, Copeland Park , Country Place , Crystal Beach/Lakeview , Cumberland Village, Dalhousie, Dow’s Lake , Dunrobin, Faircrest Heights, Fairlea, Fallingbrook, Findlay Creek, Fitzroy Harbour , Galetta, General Burns, Glabar Park, Glebe, Glen Cairn , Glens, Greely, Half Moon Bay , Hampton Iona , Havenlea-Chapman Mills, Hearts Desire , Heron Park, Highland Park , Hintonburg , Hunt Club, Huntley, Island Park , Kanata Lakes , Kanata Town Centre, Kars, Katimavik-Hazeldean, Kinburn, Leslie Park , Lincoln Heights-Parkway, Lindenlea, Lowertown, Manor Park, Manotick, March Rural, McKellar Park , Munster Hamlet , Navan, New Edinburgh, Nicolls Island, North Gower , Old Ottawa South , Orchard Estates , Osgoode, Ottawa East, Community Council of Overbrook, Portobello South, Qualicum-Graham Park , Queensway Terrace North, Queenswood Heights, Riverside Park, Riverside South, Riverview Park, Rockcliffe Park , Rockcliffe Mews/Carson Grove, Rothwell Heights, Sandy Hill , Sarsfield, South Keys Greenboro, Southpointe, Stittsville, Stonebridge, Tanglewood-Hillsdale, Trend-Arlington, Vanier, Vars, West Barrhaven, Wellington Village , Westboro, Westboro Beach, Westcliffe Estates, Whitehaven, Woodpark
City Organizations
Citizens for safe cycling, Greenspace Alliance
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