More brand-name and generic drugs are being added to the provincial formulary, cutting costs for families and enhancing access to drug treatments. This announcement was made by Health Minister Erin Selby.
“Medication costs can be a hardship for Manitobans who are ill or living with a chronic disease,” said Minister Selby. “A new, pan-Canadian agreement has reduced costs for several generic drugs, allowing us to pass along the savings to Manitoba families.”
In April 2013, Manitoba and other provinces secured a lower price for six generic drugs and created over $9 million in annual savings for Manitobans. Building on this work, a new, pan-Canadian deal has established a price for four additional common generic drugs at 18 per cent of the price for the equivalent brand name drug.
This joint approach will obtain the lowest generic prices achieved to date in Canada for these four products. This includes reduced costs for rosuvastatin and simvastatin to treat high cholesterol, citalopram to treat depression, and pantoprazole to treat a variety of gastro-intestinal illnesses.
This reduction in cost for generic drugs allows the province to cover new brand-name drugs. Some of the new drugs added to the formulary include:
- Effient for the treatment of heart disease, and
- Eliquis for embolism prevention in patients who have had elective knee or hip replacement surgery.
The additions also include drugs for the treatment of a specific cause of overactive bladder for Manitobans with multiple sclerosis (MS) or certain kinds of spinal cord injuries.
Coverage for some of the new drugs will begin on April 1 while coverage for others will come into effect on April 16. Of the 407 drugs added, 391 are generic medications. The minister said the savings will be used to increase the availability of new innovative drugs for Manitoba families.
Pharmacare is a universal, comprehensive prescription drug program for any Manitoban, with benefits based on family income. It covers 100 per cent of eligible drug costs once the income-based deductible is reached, regardless of medical condition or age.
Since 1999, approximately 4,000 new drugs have been added to Manitoba’s pharmacare program.
More information on the program is available at www.gov.mb.ca/health/pharmacare.
