A Social Insurance Model for Pharmacare: Ontario’s Options for a More Sustainable, Cost-Effective Drug Program

The cost of provincial pharmacare is set to rise precipitously, with spending on Ontario’s drug benefit plan for seniors projected to increase from about 1 percent of provincial income to a full 5 percent by 2061, according to a new C.D. Howe Institute report. To prepare for this rising spending on drugs as babyboomers age and workforce growth slows, authors Colin Busby and William Robson recommend partial prefunding of the Ontario Drug Benefit program as the best way to put the program on a stronger and more sustainable footing.