Canada: Ontario Patient Drug Fees

The Canadian province of Ontario has now introduced patient fees for every prescription dispensed under its provincial drug benefit plan.

The province, which says it is the last in Canada to introduce patient co-payments, requires the charge to be paid by all welfare recipients and the elderly, who previously received their prescription drugs free under the plan. The lowest fee is C$2 ($4.38) for elderly couples with annual incomes below C$16,018 ($11,697); people on higher incomes must now pay for the first C$100-worth of their drugs, then a dispensing fee to a maximum of C$6.11 for each prescription.

A number of the large drug chains are offering to pay the C$2 fee or deduct this amount from their dispensing fees.