Health & Fitness

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A local pharmacy owner says time is running out, and that jobs and services are at stake, if the Ontario government reforms the prescription drug system.

Rob Rogers, who operates Pharmasave stores in Kincardine and Port Elgin, says pharmacists are not against lowering the cost of generic drugs for customers. However, pharmacists need adequate funding to cover the $7 dispensing fee per prescription which will be slashed on May 15. 

"We were receiving professional allowances and that allowed us to deliver all the free services we've been providing for the past 20 years," he says. "Dispensing fees for government prescriptions have gone up only 50 cents in 20 years, while the inflation rate has gone up 50 per cent. We get paid a $7 dispensing fee but it costs $14 to fill those prescriptions, so we're losing a lot of money. That's what we have an issue with - the rapid decline in funding without a valid way to replace it."

He says the government’s offer will only compensate pharmacists $1-$4/prescription which adds up to a shortfall of $300,00/year for an average pharmacy in Ontario.

"The only pharmacies that will get $4/prescription are the very remote pharmacies – way up north, that kind of thing," says Rogers. "Likely for us, it'll be $1/prescription. That's the problem, the government has set up a fund, but it's vague on what we have to do to access that fund. We're trying to get to the table with the government and figure out what is paid for. The money disappears on May 15, but we have no idea how to get funding in the future."

As for Gordon Pharmasave, Rogers says the stores will be affected. 

"For the past 20 years, we've been doing things like counselling, medication checks, taking back expired medicine, free delivery, extending prescriptions, faxing doctors, getting refills for people - all that was subsidized by these professional allowances. This massive drop in funding will affect staffing, reduce hours, and means we'll have to charge for services, such as delivery, extending prescriptions, refills, and counselling."

He urges people to contact their MPP and the health minister and voice their concerns about maintaining the services provided by the local pharmacies.

"We have petitions in our stores that people can sign," he says. "We want people to write letters to their local MPPs, text message or E-mail the MPPs and the health minister. We've had a great response from the local community in support of the community pharmacies. Local pharmacies in rural Ontario are extremely important and play a value role."

Rogers spoke in front of the economics committee at Queen's Park last week, trying to make the government understand the need for alternative funding and to make it realistic and practical to access that funding so Ontarians can get services in rural communities, without paying an arm and a leg to get them.

Huron-Bruce MPP Carol Mitchell says the drug system reform aims at reducing the price of generic prescription drugs.

"We acknowledge the work done by our pharmacists, which is why we've put in place $150 million, including a new $100-million fund to compensate pharmacy owners for doing such things as medication consultation, blood pressure checks, work with diabetes patients," she says. "We want to address the cost of that time for the pharmacists when they are helping with health care."

Pharmacist Rob Rogers holds up a letter and postcard that people can send to their MPP, objecting to the funding cuts to community pharmacies

She said the government is also away that in rural Ontario there are unique circumstances that require more funding. "We're prepared to come to the table and look at rural and underserviced areas, and talk about those issues."

Mitchell said it's important to come to the table and talk about services, as well as the importance of accountability and transparency in the system, and ultimately, the lower price of prescription drugs.

"We do understand there is more work in rural and underserviced areas and we're committed to funding that," she says.

Premier Dalton McGuinty addressed the issue while in Walkerton earlier this week. He says he’d like to see the role of a pharmacist expanded to include payment for refilling prescriptions, counselling, giving consultations to the elderly, and giving inoculations.

"We need to reduce the cost of drugs and ensure we invest all those savings into covering more drugs, and investing in new professional services we want pharmacists to take on," he says. "We see the role of pharmacists evolving, taking on more responsibility to help us in more ways, and pay them for services they are not being paid for now."

McGuinty says 10 years from now if the government changes nothing, 70 cents of every program dollar will be spent on health cared. "That means taking money from schools, from research, environmental protection," he says. "We have to find a way to deliver good-quality health care more efficiently to our families. This is part of that change."

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Friday, May 07, 2010