CMAJ • February 12, 2008; 178 (4). doi:10.1503/cmaj.070587.
© 2008 Canadian Medical Association or its licensors
All editorial matter in CMAJ represents the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of the Canadian Medical Association.
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Comparison of provincial prescription drug plans and the impact on patients' annual drug expenditures

Virginie Demers, BSc, Magda Melo, BScPharm MSc, Cynthia Jackevicius, PharmD MSc, Jafna Cox, MD, Dimitri Kalavrouziotis, MD, Stéphane Rinfret, MD MSc, Karin H. Humphries, DSc, Helen Johansen, PhD, Jack V. Tu, MD PhD and Louise Pilote, MD PhD

From the Divisions of General Internal Medicine (Demers, Pilote) and Clinical Epidemiology (Pilote), McGill University Health Centre, Montréal, Que.; the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Science (Melo); the Departments of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (Jackevicius) and of Medicine (Tu), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.; the Departments of Medicine (Cox) and Surgery (Kalavrouziotis), Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS; the Department of Medicine (Rinfret), Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal, Montréal, Que.; the Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine (Humphries), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC; Health Information and Research Division (Johansen), Statistics Canada, Ottawa, Ont.; the Department of Medicine, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre (Tu), Toronto, Ont.; and the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Western Ontario (Jackevicius), London, Ont.


Figure 117
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  		Figure 1: Variation, by province, in annual drug costs paid by a 65-year-old woman whose annual income is below the national average. The patient has diabetes mellitus, hypertension and insomnia and is married to a senior receiving Old Age Security and Guaranteed Income Supplement. Their annual household income is $23 315. The patient's prescription drugs are metformin (850 mg twice daily), lorazepam (0.5 mg at bedtime), hydrochlorothiazide (25 mg/d) and ramipril (5 mg/d). The total annual cost of the drugs is $454 excluding professional fees.

 

Figure 217
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  		Figure 2: Variation, by province, in annual drug costs paid by a 73-year-old man whose annual income is at the national average. The patient has heart failure and hyperlipidemia and is married to a senior receiving Old Age Security. Their annual household income is $44 806. The patient's prescription drugs are furosemide (20 mg twice a day), acetylsalicylic acid (80 mg/d), metoprolol (50 mg twice daily), atorvastatin (40 mg/d), ramipril (5 mg/d) and digoxin (0.125 mg/d). The total annual cost of the drugs is $1283 excluding professional fees.

 

Figure 317
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  		Figure 3: Variation, by province, in annual drug costs paid by a 23-year-old woman whose annual income is below the national average. The patient has hypothyroidism and hyperlipidemia. She is single, has a child and works part time. Her annual household income is $14 000. Her prescription drugs are levothyroxine sodium (0.075 mg/d) and atorvastatin (40 mg/d). The total annual cost of the drugs is $807 excluding professional fees.

 

Figure 417
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  		Figure 4: Variation, by province, in annual drug costs paid by a 40-year-old man who is an income security recipient. He has hypertension and hyperlipidemia. His prescription drugs are hydrochlorothiazide (25 mg/d), diltiazem (120 mg twice daily) and atorvastatin (40 mg/d). The total annual cost of the drugs is $1389 excluding professional fees.