Question

There has been a major debate in Canada about whether we need a national pharmacare program. This debate has involved a wide range of policy actors, including: academics pharmaceutical companies, private and public drug insurers, patient advocates, employers, unions and political parties.

First, what is the evidence supporting or opposing establishing such a program? Second, if Canada decided to implement it, what challenge would it face in doing so?

Answer 1

Supporting evidence proves a claim to be true. Supporting evidence can be a summary, paraphrased or a direct quote. Supporting evidence is a crucial part in body paragraphs and it is important to be discerning in the evidence chosen. Let's talk about supporting evidence, so this is a really crucial part of your body progress.

evideneceEvidence-based policy (EBP) is an idea in public policy proposing that policy decisions should be based on, or informed by, rigorously established objective evidence. The implied contrast here is with policymaking based on ideology or 'common sense'. It is also assumed that social goals are best served when scientific evidence is used rigorously and comprehensively to inform decisions, rather than in a piecemeal, manipulated, or cherry-picked manner. The move towards evidence-based policy has its roots in the larger movement towards evidence-based practice, which was prompted by the rise of evidence-based medicine in the 1980s. It is, nevertheless, a controversial idea.

Some policy scholars now avoid using the term evidence-based policy, using others such as evidence informed. This language shift allows continued thinking about the underlying desire to improve evidence use in terms of its rigor or quality, while avoiding some of the key limitations or reductionist ideas at times seen with the evidence-based language. Still, the language of evidence-based policy is widely used and, as such, can be interpreted to reflect a desire for evidence to be used well or appropriately in one way or another - such as by ensuring systematic consideration of rigorous and high quality policy relevant evidence, or by avoiding biased and erroneous applications of evidence for political ends.

In this guidance document, we aim to explain the purpose and meaning of the Continuum of Evidence of Effectiveness, a tool that was developed to facilitate a common understanding of what the Best Available Research Evidence means in the field of violence prevention. This Continuum also serves to provide common language for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers in discussing evidence-based decision making.

Canada is a constitutional monarchy (where the monarch, or their representative is the ceremonial Head of State) with a Westminster-style parliamentary democracy. According to Economist Intelligence Unit, Canada IS a full democracy.

There are more than 100 government-run drug insurance programs in Canada—often designed to provide drug coverage for vulnerable groups including seniors and people on social assistance. There are also over 100,000 private drug benefit plans, usually offered as employment benefits but also for sale directly to individuals. Nevertheless, high percentages of Canadians consistently report in surveys that they have either not been able to pay for at least one prescription, or have not taken their medicine as instructed because of its cost. That’s partly because some Canadians have no drug coverage at all, but also because many people with prescription drug insurance have to pay part of the cost of their prescriptions through deductibles and copayments, or because some plans have annual or lifetime limits on how much an individual can claim.

Quebec is the only Canadian jurisdiction that has achieved universal drug coverage and it did so by making drug insurance mandatory for all residents. Employers that provide health benefits to their employees are required to provide prescription drug coverage that meets or exceeds the level of coverage provided by province’s public drug plan. Residents who are not eligible for private insurance through their employer or occupation are required to enrol in, and pay premiums for, the provincial drug plan