Tuesday December 5, 2023 | VICTORIA, BC [Updated December 8, 2023]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
The BC government is grateful for pharmacists stepping up to provide free vaccination services, and prescribing for an expanded range of conditions, said BC Health Minister Adrian Dix today in response to a question from Island Social Trends.
The question was about how pharmacies are charging more per medication unit for smaller-amount or short-term prescription refills, which is happening more often due to the doctor shortage and the increased use of doctors through telehealth (where doctors are reluctant to fill prescriptions for long periods, as they are often less familiar with the patient’s condition).
In other words, government is aware of the practice of charging more for smaller quantity refills and somewhat turns a blind eye to it as a way to help compensate pharmacies for additional government-driven load in recent years.
However, that means that British Columbians bear the brunt of this retail pharmacy revenue practice as exacerbated by the doctor shortage and a shift of more responsibility to pharmacists by the provincial government.
In particular, seniors might be unduly impacted — either not really comprehending the additional cost load for prescription refills and/or possibly afraid to speak up about it.
In these challenging financial times, people having to pay more for the same medications is one more thing that weighs heavily on individuals and families.
Dix mentioned that the deductible under Pharmacare was reduced from $750 per year in 2018, with the government paying out much more in benefits. For seniors, the net come threshold is $27,000, and there is a family maximum, he said today.
Pharmacists doing more, comments from Premier Eby:
Premier David Eby will be providing a media availability on December 8 — from a pharmacy in North Vancouver — regarding “an update about pharmacists prescribing for minor ailments and free contraceptives”.
On December 8, Island Social Trends asked Premier Eby about drug cost consistency with the cost of living aspect in mind. He replied first with a comment about how “the cost of pharmaceuticals has been an issue that our government has been quite aggressive in addressing from day one”.
Nothing in his response addressed the per-unit cost increase on prescription refills and the cost-impact of that on individuals amidst other cost-of-living challenges. But the premier did comment on how other aspects of working with pharmacists has saved money for taxpayers overall.
“BC was the first province to introduce the biosimilars program where drugs that have the identical effect on the body that are not protected by a particular patent that result in brand new drugs being very expensive were able to be substituted by pharmacists and physicians, bringing down the overall cost of the system, saving literally hundreds of millions of dollars to taxpayers with no impact on people’s health,” said Eby today.
“We know that we’re heavily reliant on pharmacists as part of the health-care team in British Columbia and we are expanding that reliance. We’re asking pharmacists to support people in prescribing minor ailments, refilling prescriptions, supporting the free birth control program, and pharmacists have really stepped up,” said Eby in his media availability delivered live from a Shoppers Drug Mart location in North Vancouver today.
He noted that pharmacies are making investments such as building new consulting rooms. Vaccination appointment visits are compensated to the pharmacies directly, said Eby. “They are paid on the basis of seeing people,” said Eby, saying it saves the system money because people are not going to the emergency rooms in hospitals “which is the most expensive type of care”.
“We have had a very positive partnership with pharmacists and they are not only increasing access for British Columbians helping save money on birth control, but helping the system as a whole be effective and efficient for taxpayers,” said Eby today.