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Seniors’ Views of Medication Reimbursement Policies: Bridging Research and Policy at the Point of Policy Impact

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 November 2023

Neena L. Chappell ,
Malcolm Maclure ,
Howard Brunt ,
Jennifer Hopkinson  and
Jennifer Mullett
Neena L. Chappell*
Affiliation:
University of Victoria
Malcolm Maclure
Affiliation:
Ministry of Health
Howard Brunt
Affiliation:
University of Victoria
Jennifer Hopkinson
Affiliation:
University of Victoria
Jennifer Mullett
Affiliation:
Ministry of Health
*
Requests for reprints should be sent to:/Les demandes de reproduction doivent être adressées à: Neena L. Chappell, Director, Centre on Aging, University of Victoria, P.O. Box 1700, Victoria, BC V8W 2Y2
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Abstract

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Escalating medication prices are forcing drug benefit programs worldwide to change their payment policies. Physicians object that this intrudes on their long established authority to prescribe medications they judge best for their patients. This paper reports data from focus groups and a large random sample of seniors in British Columbia who were asked for their views towards Pharmacare's reference based pricing (RBP) policy. Seniors expressed the desire for physicians to be more knowledgeable and more involved in all aspects of medical care including policy changes. They have confidence in physicians as a credible source of information, but they also have as much confidence in pharmacists and almost as much in the Ministry of Health. Seniors overwhelmingly accept, and the majority support government's efforts with their cost-saving Pharmacare policies. Furthermore, those who know more about the policy are more likely to support it. The paper closes with a discussion of the feedback process with decision-makers.

Résumé

Résumé

La hausse des prix des médicaments entraine une modification du paiement des prestations prévues aux différents régimes d'assurance-médicament. Les médecins s'y opposent, prétextant qu'ils ne pourront plus prescrire les médicaments qu'ils jugent les meilleurs, comme ils le faisaient depuis longtemps. L'article reproduit des données émanant de groupes de discussion et d'un vaste échantillon d'aînés de la Colombie-Britannique á qui on a demandé leur opinion sur les modalités de paiement d'un régime d'assurance-medicament. Les aînés ont exprimé le voeu que les médecins soient mieux renseignés et plus engagés dans toutes les étapes des soins de santé, y compris dans l'établissement des politiques. Ils font confiance aux médecins en tant que source de renseignements mais ils accordent également une grande confiance á leur pharmacien et presque autant au ministère de la Santé. Les aînés acceptent majoritairement les politiques de réduction des coûts des regimes d'assurance-médicament et appuient même, pour la plupart, les efforts du gouvernement dans ce sens. En outre, ceux qui connaissent mieux les politiques ont plus tendance á les appuyer. L'article se termine par des commentaires sur la rétroaction et les décideurs.

Keywords

SeniorsMedicationsDrug PolicyAinésmedicamentspolitiques de médicaments
Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 16 , Issue S1: Bridging Policy and Research on Aging/Tisser des liens entre les politiques et la recherche relative au vieillissement , Spring Printemps 1997 , pp. 114 - 131
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 1997

Footnotes

*

Presented at the annual meetings of the Gerontological Society of America, Washington, DC, 1996, November. Research funded by the Seniors Independence Research Program (SIRP) through NHRDP, Health Canada.

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