Mr. Speaker, Health Canada's non-insured health benefits, NIHB program pays for the drug claims of eligible first nations and Inuit clients when they have a valid prescription from a health professional, and the prescription is filled by a registered pharmacist. The fee structure for pharmacists differs between provinces as NIHB Program officials fees with pharmacists on a regional basis, based on provincial and regional relevant points of reference.
Both the 1997 and the 2004 reports of the Auditor General found that the program could do more to ensure savings, particularly through dispensing fee negotiations, and expressed concern regarding situations in which the program was paying higher fees than other plans. Overall, Health Canada strives to compensate pharmacists serving NIHB clients in a fair and reasonable manner by ensuring that NIHB fees are comparable to provincial fees.
In British Columbia, Health Canada had historically agreed to pay pharmacists a 10% mark up on drugs dispensed, in addition to their professsional dispensing fees. Other plans in British Columbia, including British Columbia pharmacare, were not being charged this mark up.
As a prudent manager of public funds, Health Canada endeavours to ensure that program resources are spent on providing client benefits and access to services. To this end, Health Canada has undertaken lengthy negotiations with those representing British Columbia pharmacists in an effort to determine a fair and reasonable level of compensation for pharmacists, without including a mark up on drug costs. Despite these efforts an agreement on fees colud not be reached, and Health Canada was forced to adopt a new fee structure which reflects an increase in the dispensing fee paid to British Columbia pharmacists, as well as the elimination of the mark up previously charged on drug costs. Following the implementation of this new fee arrangement, the NIHB is still paying pharmacists at a higher rate than British Columbia Pharmacare. Health Canada feels that British Columbia pharmacists are reasonably compensated for the important service they provide to NHIB clients, and trust that pharmacists will recognize this as a reasonable arrangement.