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Generic Drug Pricing and Substitution in Private Drug Plans in Canada

Purpose: To estimate the willingness and ability of private plans to manage costs during the generic drug procurement reform era that began in 2006 in Canada. Two cost management aspects were assessed; the prices paid for generic drugs and the extent to which private plans have enacted measures to increase generic substitution.
Methods: IMS-Brogan Pharmastat data was used to estimate the price of commonly prescribed generic drugs and generic share of prescriptions, by plan type, province and quarter from 2003 to 2012.
Results: Prices did not decline unless the provincial governments mandated the reductions. Savings from this mandate was approximately $264 million in Ontario. Rates of generic substitution were unaffected by the price reductions, possibly because the rates were high beforehand.
Conclusion: Private plans did not independently obtain lower generic prices. Due to already high substitution rates, there may have been limited potential for additional savings from mandatory substitution controls.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:OTU.1807/65555
Date25 June 2014
CreatorsIsmail, Ethar
ContributorsGrootendorst, Paul
Source SetsLibrary and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
Languageen_ca
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis

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