Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses for being with us today.
I have a number of questions about Alberta Blue Cross. I was born in Edmonton, and I was also a beneficiary of the Alberta system for several decades. Thanks for being here and for your work.
I want to talk first about copayments. According to Dr. Braden Manns, a researcher with the University of Calgary's Cumming School of Medicine, he estimates that up to 30% of Alberta's low-income seniors report regularly not taking preventative medicine for conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes because of financial barriers. I know that in Alberta, Blue Cross provides 70% drug coverage for seniors, but according to Dr. Manns, the 30% copay may be having an impact. He says oftentimes people are taking six to 10 medications. What we understand is that the average out-of-pocket cost per year is in the range of $300.
In your view, what impact do copayments for prescription drugs have on cost-related non-adherence? Would you have any advice to this committee, if we were to set up a universal system, on what role copayments should or should not play in that system?