SENIORS VIEWS OF MEDICATION REIMBURSEMENT POLICIES - BRIDGING RESEARCH AND POLICY AT THE POINT OF POLICY IMPACT

Escalating medication prices are forcing drug benefit programs worldwi de to change their payment policies. Physicians object that this intru des on their long established authority to prescribe medications they judge best for their patients. This paper reports data from focus grou ps and a large random sample of seniors in British Columbia who were a sked for their views towards Pharmacare's reference based pricing (REP ) policy. Seniors expressed the desire for physicians to be more knowl edgeable and more involved in all aspects of medical care including po licy changes. They have confidence in physicians as a credible source of information, but they also have as much confidence in pharmacists a nd almost as much in the Ministry of Health. Seniors overwhelmingly ac cept, and the majority support government's efforts with their cost-sa ving Pharmacare policies. Furthermore, those who know more about the p olicy are more likely to support it. The paper closes with a discussio n of the feedback process with decision-makers.