Pan-Canadian overpricing of medicines: a 6-country study of cost control for generic medicines.

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On 1 April 2013, the premiers of Canada’s provincial and territorial governments, under the auspices of the Council of the Federation, achieved a breakthrough agreement to lower the price to be paid for 6 costly generic medicines (amlodipine, atorvastatin, omeprazole, rabeprazole, ramipril, and venlafaxine), pegging their reimbursement prices to 18% of the original innovator’s price. These governments expect their new price ceiling to save up to $100 million, as these 6 drugs represent about 20% of publicly funded spending on generic drugs. The Council of the Federation made this decision on the advice of a subcommittee of provincial and territorial ministers of health (except the minister of health from Quebec) called the Health Care Innovation Working Group. Movements toward such price-fixing began largely in western Canada, especially in British Columbia and Saskatchewan, although Alberta Blue Cross has been coordinating the national effort, along with the ministers of health of Ontario and Yukon.