With pharmacies limiting prescription refills to 30 days at a time, some seniors are complaining that they’re paying multiple dipsensing fees and having to go the drugstore multiple times to pick up medications.
Prescription refill limits during COVID-19 pandemic mean added costs for seniors
CARP advocacy group asks province to step in, after hearing from seniors who are paying multiple dispensing fees now that they’re limited to 30-day supplies of medications.
A provincial recommendation to limit prescriptions to a 30-day supply during the coronavirus pandemic has Ontario seniors demanding relief from dispensing fees that have, for some, tripled in cost.
CARP, a national advocacy group for the rights of aging Canadians, is being “inundated” with emails from seniors, who worry about being hit with multiple dispensing fees now that pharmacists are filling prescriptions monthly instead of every 90 days, said chief policy officer Marissa Lennox.
CARP is calling on the Ontario government to help cover the added costs associated with limiting prescription refills, which is intended to guard against the stockpiling of medications and prevent shortages during the pandemic.
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Lennox said this is causing undue financial hardship for Ontario seniors.
“We have received so many inquiries, complaints, concerns. A lot of seniors are already feeling the hit of COVID-19 on their pocketbook, whether it was in their retirement savings, whether they lost their jobs. It makes for really difficult decisions between having to pay for medications and maybe food.”
Governments across Canada have moved to limit prescription refills during COVID-19. Some other provinces, including Alberta, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island, “have taken steps to either waive the fee or have it subsidized,” Lennox said. But Ontario is not mitigating costs for seniors and other members of the province’s public drug plan who are now facing multiple dispensing fees.
However, that could soon change. On Thursday, Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott said the province is ready to move “very quickly” to ease the strain related to limits on prescription refills.
“We had some discussions about it yesterday and we expect to be making that available to the public very soon, because we know that this is a difficulty for a number of people,” she said. “You can expect something from us very shortly on that issue.”
Ed Sikora, 86, who lives in Burlington, Ont., said he didn’t realize that he’d only been issued a 30-day refill on his prescriptions, instead of his usual three-month supply, until he got home from the drugstore earlier this week. When he called the pharmacist to inquire, he was stunned to learn that he’d have to pay the dispensing fee two more times.
“It’s ridiculous that they’re charging you the full amount and only giving you one third of the quantity,” he said, adding that his retirement savings have taken a hit due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Every dollar counts,” he said.
Dispensing fees for medications eligible under the Ontario Drug Benefit plan at most pharmacies range between $8.83 and $13.25, depending on location. Seniors and others covered under the public drug plan are responsible for part of these dispensing fees — a co-payment — which can be up to $6.11.
In recommending pharmacists limit prescription refills last month, Ontario’s Health Ministry said, “Dispensers may use professional judgment to provide a longer days’ supply in exceptional cases with appropriate documentation.”
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Justin Bates, CEO of the Ontario Pharmacists Association, said pharmacists across Canada urged governments to impose limits on refills because of concerns about the global supply chain of medications and to stop the “panic buying” that occurred in the early days of the pandemic.
“We can’t be reactive in these situations because once a drug shortage occurs it’s really difficult to fix that situation,” Bates said. “We wanted to avoid any scenario where a patient couldn’t get their medications.”
However, Bates said it was the association’s understanding that “no patient should experience any additional cost related to the policy.”
The association is urging government to cover the second and third co-payments for prescriptions covered under the public drug plan, which covers “the most vulnerable,” he said.
“We’re working collaboratively with the Ford government … to hopefully bring a solution forward. Our hope is that they understand the necessity here.”
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Lennox is also hearing from seniors across the country who are fearful that added trips to pharmacies to fill prescriptions could put them at greater risk of exposure to COVID-19.
To address these concerns, Bates said pharmacies are increasing delivery services and curbside pickup options, as well as limiting the number of customers in stores and introducing dedicated hours for seniors to shop.
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