PACP Committee News Release
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Standing Committee on Public Accounts |
HOUSE OF COMMONS CHAMBRE DES COMMUNES OTTAWA, CANADA K1A 0A6 |
Comité permanent des comptes publics |
For immediate release
NEWS RELEASE
CANADA'S FOURTH LARGEST PAYER OF DRUG BENEFITS MUST CONTROL ITS COSTS AND CO-ORDINATE ITS EFFORTS
Ottawa, May 13, 2005 -
Today, Mr. John Williams, M.P. and Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Accounts, tabled a report recommending that the government take measures to control the costs of its drugs benefit program.
The total annual cost of federal drug benefits programs exceeds $430 million, making the federal government the fourth largest payer of drug benefits in Canada (after Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia). Yet Parliament and Canadians have received very little information on this activity, one of the fastest growing areas of federal health expenditures. And the Auditor General of Canada says that there is a “lack of leadership and co-ordination” among the six federal entities responsible for these programs.
In its 11th Report, entitled “Management of Federal Drug Benefit Programs,”, the Public Accounts Committee calls on the government to provide Parliament with comprehensive financial and performance information on these programs and to take effective measures to control their costs. It also calls on Health Canada to take prompt action to resolve long-standing problems associated with the drug benefits program the Department provides for Canada’s First Nations and Inuit. Until these problems are corrected, Canadian aboriginal peoples will not receive the full health benefits the program was intended to provide.
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