Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux waits to appear before appearing at the Senate Committee on National Finance, Tuesday, October 25, 2022 in Ottawa. The parliamentary budget officer says a single-payer universal drug plan would cost the federal and provincial governments an additional $11.2 billion in the first year, and $13.4 billion in five years. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
OTTAWA – The parliamentary budget officer says a single-payer universal drug plan would cost the federal and provincial governments $11.2 billion in the first year, and $13.4 billion in five years.
The PBO’s report released today provides an estimate for the cost of a pharmacare program between 2024-25 and 2027-28.
It calculates the incremental cost of the program, taking into account current spending by governments on public drug plans as well as revenue that would be generated from co-pays under a pharmacare plan.
The Liberals have promised to table pharmacare legislation this fall as part of the supply-and-confidence deal the government struck with the NDP.
The PBO’s report finds that while the public sector would spend more on drugs, the implementation of a pharmacare plan would lead to economy-wide savings.
The PBO estimates cost savings on drug expenditures of $1.4 billion in 2024-25, with that figure increasing to $2.2 billion by 2027-28.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 12, 2023.
