Health committee  Yes, for sure. I will certainly say that we support the principles of a pharmacare program. Certainly for us the definition of that needs to be clarified. The first step, as I said before, is that we think the value for money with regard to access is to substantially reduce the costs for all Albertans.

Health committee  Certainly.

Health committee  Yes and no. Certainly in the province, as with other provinces, we have coordination of benefits with the programs. If the government offered a program, we would ensure that the individuals went to that program and then used their private coverage insurance as well, so we would have the coordination of benefits.

Health committee  In what context...?

Health committee  Certainly. I think the question of impact to business has been an ongoing strategic exercise, for sure, because you need to look and determine what type of model or scenario it's going to be. I'll use some examples. For example, if the principles were that it was based on a basket of drugs that were required by insurers and governments across Canada, and then employers were able to still have wraparound coverage for that, then that would be one impact to the benefit carriers.

Health committee  Absolutely. As CLHIA indicated, infrastructures, several of them, are already in place coast to coast. We do this for a living, and we do it very efficiently. Certainly, I can say that from our own perspective. Yes, there would be an opportunity, and there would be no need to rebuild and replicate the systems that already work in Canada today.

Health committee  I can't say which one is cheaper, because it isn't just about a drug program. It depends on whether or not in the private plans they have more benefits associated with the programs. I would never do a comparison. I look at the bucket that we do. Also, the services we provide are quite different for the Government of Alberta from the services that we would provide....

Health committee  They're both extremely efficient, and I—

Health committee  I would say that our private plans have more variability than the government plan does.

Health committee  Absolutely. As I said in my opening remarks, if the pCPA was able to do all drugs on behalf of all Canadians, I think that would certainly make a difference. I know there are mechanisms that the private side has tried to put in place behind the scenes as well. Certainly, there is some work, I understand, with pCPA moving forward, and I also know that it sounds like it's very difficult.

Health committee  Absolutely I would say that, generally speaking, we see a population that is very pleased with the formulary that is there for the government-sponsored programs. There are private groups that want to mimic it because they do feel that it is efficient.

Health committee  That's a pretty broad question. Certainly from the government perspective, the way we organize.... Maybe I'll preface that by saying that I've heard the question asked often about whether or not a decrease in revenue affects administrative costs. Our role with the government is to help them decrease revenue, and that has nothing to do with the way we're paid administratively by the government.

Health committee  The Government of Alberta decides what is covered, so it is inappropriate of me to speak to what is covered under their plan, but I will say that it certainly has evolved over the years I have been there. They have moved to add different variations, different products, different programs.

Health committee  First of all, Dr. Manns is actually currently doing a research project with the Government of Alberta in that particular area. They are offering to a trial group of seniors no copayment, so that they're able to go back and see whether or not there is any evidence in the end. That's currently under way.

Health committee  I'll speak from the perspective of a not-for-profit. I can say that Alberta Blue Cross is very effective and efficient because we deliver services on behalf of the government and it is imperative that we constantly prove to the government our value for money. I can say there's no profit there; it's on a break-even perspective.