MPP calls for end to extra dispensing fees
Provincial 30-day limit on prescriptions putting hurt on pocketbooks
Rosemary Poirier can think of many ways she’d rather spend her money, rather than on paying additional fees for picking up her prescription medications.
“There’s a woman in my neighbourhood, a senior citizen who has obviously fallen through the cracks … I would love to go and I would love to pay for her groceries for one week,” the 62-year-old St. Catharines resident said.
But she said that sort of philanthropy has become a challenge, as a result of a provincial government recommendation that limits pharmacies to providing only a 30-day supply of prescription medications at a time. For Poirier, it means three trips to the pharmacy instead of one, and each time she is being charged dispensing fees totalling about $55 each month.
While Poirier understands the effort to ensuring supplies of medications do not run low, she said people should not be paying extra fees as a result.
Elizabeth Wotherspoon said she’s paying an extra $120 each month filling prescriptions for herself and her husband.
While Wotherspoon said she can afford the cost, her concern is for “so many other people out there who just can’t afford it.”
Bev Siren has prescriptions for 15 medications.
“If I have to pay for (dispensing fees) on everything, it would be over $60 a month,” the St. Catharines woman said.
Siren, too, understands the issues and said she’s willing to abide by the limits, but she said the added cost isn’t fair. “It’s frustrating.” Poirier is also concerned about extra trips to pharmacies required to pick up medications, at a time when people are being encouraged to stay home.
“I’m quite able to go to the pharmacy, but I think about senior citizens that can’t get there on a regular basis. They have to go out and they have to be exposed,” she said.
St. Catharines MPP Jennie Steven’s office has heard from more than a dozen residents sharing similar concerns about dispensing fees, prompting her to write to Premier Doug Ford, Health Minister Christine Elliott and Seniors and Accessibility Minister Raymond Cho asking the province to cover the costs they’re facing.
“Keeping seniors healthy is making sure we don’t leave them behind. It’s time we stop asking seniors to absorb extra costs during the pandemic,” Stevens wrote.
The government introduced legislation at the end of last week to address the costs.
Under the proposal, people would still be required to pay dispensing fees for the initial 30-day supply, but the province would reimburse pharmacies for the costs of dispensing the second 30-day supply of medications, while requiring pharmacies to reduce the charges on the third-month’s supply of medications. That lost income, the provincial government estimates, would cost pharmacies across Ontario about $12.5 million per month.
Stevens said the proposal doesn’t go far enough.
“When you are on a fixed income like a senior, any extra cost can be crippling. You should not be asked to pay more,” she said.
“I think this is a familiar story of too much talk, and too little action. The seniors that picked up their drugs today and had to pay more will be missed by this change. We really need the government to commit to paying all dispensing fees for seniors during the pandemic, not partial payments for part of the pandemic.” Although the women are managing to cover the additional costs so far, they wonder how long they will be able to continue doing so.
“I don’t know when this thing is going to end,” said Poirier. “I don’t know when they’re going to allow the pharmacies to start supplying three months worth, or even two months worth (of medications).”