More medication coverage for Islanders

Provincial drug coverage is increasing to reduce the copay eligible Islanders spend on many prescription medicines and to expand access to the Catastrophic Drug Program and the High Cost Drug Program.

These changes will happen through the federal-provincial Improving Access to Affordable Prescription Drugs (IAAPD) program to reduce out-of-pocket medication costs for Islanders by an estimated $3,770,000 each year.

“We recognize that there are opportunities to improve both access and affordability to prescription medications for Island residents. This latest investment will build upon the other recent improvements that the IAAPD has allowed us to make to our province’s drug cost assistance programming,” said Health and Wellness Minister Ernie Hudson. “I am very happy that we can help make eligible medications more affordable for Islanders.”

“For too many Canadians, the cost of their medication can be an additional barrier to accessing quality health care,” said the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Health. “Through our partnership with Prince Edward Island, we are helping improve access and affordability of needed medicines for more Islanders. This expanded coverage will result in better health outcomes for many in PEI as we continue our work toward improving access and affordability for all Canadians through a national pharmacare program.” 

Over the coming months, program changes will include:

• Reducing copays for commonly prescribed, eligible medications to $5 for residents covered under the Seniors Drug, Family Health Benefit, Generic Drug  and Diabetes Drug programs. This includes medications used to manage mental health, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes and represents about 60 per cent of prescriptions that Islanders use on a regular basis ($3 million annually) 
• Adjusting the Catastrophic Drug Program to lower the cap on the amount of money a household spends on eligible medications, based on a percent of household income ($430,000 annually) 
• Modifying the High Cost Drug Program to remove barriers for those in the lowest income brackets, avoid duplication of income testing and remove the exclusion of households earning over $150,000 ($340,000 annually)

“Before we launched the Improving Affordable Access to Prescription Drugs program in August 2021, too many Islanders couldn’t afford the prescription drugs they needed,” said the Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence. “Since then, this collaborative program between our two governments has played a vital role in improving the affordability and accessibility of prescription drugs for many folks across the Island. Now, we are expanding the program to help even more Islanders live healthier lives.”

These changes to lower out-of-pocket costs, along with other additions to the drug formulary recently, mean that eligible Island residents have better access to the medications they need to support their health.   

The Department of Health and Wellness and Health PEI recently consulted with community and health advocacy groups to get guidance on ways to improve drug coverage for people in Prince Edward Island.

Media contact:
Ron Ryder    
Department of Health and Wellness
902-314-6367
rrryder@gov.pe.ca 

Backgrounder

The Improving Affordable Access to Prescription Drugs program (IAAPD) is a federal-provincial agreement to help make it easier for people living in PEI to access and afford medications.  

Under the agreement, PEI will receive $35 million in federal funding over four years, to coverer the cost of more drugs, and lower out-of-pocket costs for drugs already covered under existing public plans for Island residents.  This will also help bring PEI’s drug programs in alignment with neighbouring provinces.

The agreement helps those who are most vulnerable, such as uninsured Islanders, seniors, and families with a high burden of medication cost, by improving access to drugs and reducing or removing co-pays for some medications.

Changes to copays will apply to many of the medications identified by the pan Canadian Advisory Panel as medications to potentially be included in a Canada-wide formulary.