Yes, I wanted to address the concept of administrative cost savings, which I think an individual raised.
I want to remind everyone on the committee that we don't administer drug plans. We administer the business of supplemental benefits, which includes a wide range of things: dental coverage, paramedical, vision care, hospitals. You cannot assume that if prescription drugs were taken over by government, the cost to employers of providing those services would go away. I think you need to be careful when talking about billions of dollars of savings there.
The other thing I would point out is that generally when you move from a private to a public plan, you leave behind a lot of individuals who are covered for things today that will not be covered on the public plan.
In the PBO report there is reference to that. It's a throwaway line about the $3.9 billion that's spent. It is just assumed that this cost will continue to be picked up by employers. I think the committee needs to reflect on what $3.9 billion means. It means hundreds of thousands of people getting reimbursed for therapies today that this model assumes are not going to be covered in the future, and they will somehow have to find coverage.
Frankly, when we talk to employers—and we have lots of experience, particularly with public sector unions and anyone else who has collective agreements—that's the biggest reticence to making change. Insurers want to provide really robust and advanced drug management tools. It's the employers who are reticent to do that. In some cases it's the collective agreement and bargaining clients who are the most difficult to move, because they're acutely aware of what they'll be leaving on the table.
The committee needs to understand that moving from private to public has costs. People will get left behind, and it's not as easy as it is being portrayed by many of the people proposing it.