Around 174,000 people currently face a high-cost burden
After compiling its results for the year 2020, the Canadian Drug Insurance Pooling Corporation (CDIPC) reported that over the year, it provided coverage to nearly 28,000 Canadians and their families, where their drug costs exceeded $10,000 annually.
The high-cost drug coverage pool also took note of its total figures to date, and highlighted that approximately 174,000 Canadians currently face a high-cost drug burden – this represents a 34% increase since 2016.
The number of Canadians applying for coverage through the non-profit drug cost pool has been steadily increasing. In a release published earlier this year, CDIPC said that it had provided coverage to 27,000 Canadians with drug costs above $10,000 in 2019. This represents a 17% increase from the number of Canadians covered in 2018.
Despite this, CDIPC is confident that not even the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected the drug cost pool.
"The COVID-19 pandemic had virtually no impact on CDIPC's high-cost drug experience in 2019," said CDIPC executive director Dan Berty. "During a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has created so many business challenges for small and mid-size employers and families, CDIPC's framework has helped sustain the drug plans of 14,464 similarly sized employers across Canada."
Berty added that he hopes the federal government’s reforms to the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB) will be implemented by January 01, 2022, to further assist employers and employees with their drug costs.
