‘Less choice for Canadians’: Manulife-Loblaw deal raises access, competition concerns

Insurance firm Manulife has introduced large adjustments in the way it covers sure pharmaceuticals, with roughly 260 medicines now solely out there for protection if distributed at a Loblaw-owned pharmacy.

The new association is called a most popular pharmacy community association: insurers get a greater worth on remedy in trade for giving pharmacies unique rights to dispense it. This settlement consists of remedy used to deal with complicated, continual or life-threatening circumstances comparable to rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s, a number of sclerosis, hypertension, most cancers and hepatitis C.

For impartial pharmacists like Mohammad Masood, it alerts one other shift away from personalised affected person care

“For every medication, they can come here,” he stated. “But for their oncology or arthritis medication, they have to go to a completely different pharmacy and pharmacist. They may be well trained, but they don’t have the holistic picture that we have.”

Masood says lots of the 260 remedy included on this settlement have been already restricted when it comes to the place they may very well be stuffed below protection, however he says impartial pharmacies ought to have been introduced into this course of.

“If they wanted to improve competition and come down on price they could have come to independent pharmacists and said this is the price we are willing to pay for a drug. ‘If you want to dispense it, dispense it,'” he suggests. “‘If you want to leave it. Leave it.'”

Manulife says the deal will present “more options” for sufferers with prescriptions out there for decide up in retailer or by supply

“At this time, to evolve our program, it’s appropriate to select a single service provider to move the program forward for the benefit of our customers and their employees,” stated Doug Bryce, Manulife vice-president of product and platforms.

Loblaw, which owns Shoppers Drug Mart, insists the affected person expertise “will remain unchanged, if not better.”

“They can pick up their prescriptions from one of more than 1,800 pharmacies across our network, or have them shipped directly to their home,” stated spokeswoman Catherine Thomas.

But others, aren’t as certain.

“The consolidation of the pharmacy business is less choice for Canadians,” says Stephen Morgan, a professor of well being coverage on the University of British Columbia. “It will start looking a lot like our telecom industry where we have less choice and pay high prices. You don’t want to see that in your pharmaceutical sector.”

In Quebec, guidelines stop most popular pharmacy networks so protection in that province will stay unchanged. But for these in small and rural communities in different components of the nation, it would imply driving longer distances to a Loblaw-owned pharmacy.

“It’s not ideal from a patient care perspective,” stated Justin Bates, CEO of the Ontario Pharmacists Association. “It introduces an uneven playing field because largely independent pharmacies aren’t able to participate.”

At Mohammad Masood’s Scarborough, Ont. pharmacy most sufferers are very long time prospects. Masood says he is aware of their historical past and understands their medical wants. He thinks offers just like the partnership between Manulife and Loblaw doesn’t take that into consideration.

“There is a discontinuity,” he says. “We have a circle of care here in which the patient is taken care of.”