Changes to Public Prescription Drug Insurance Plan Charges and Co-Insurance Rates Explained

Your financial contribution to the public health insurance plan will be modified as of 1^is July 2023. If the premium, deductible and maximum monthly contribution increase, the coinsurance you pay decreases by 2%. Result: your drug bill will be little or not affected, thus escaping the meteoric inflation of most of your current purchases.

Decipher your invoice

When you are registered with the public prescription drug insurance plan and you have a valid health insurance card, you must pay Revenu Québec an annual premium, then in pharmacies a monthly deductible, co-insurance and a monthly contribution. From 1^is July :

• the annual premium, which varies according to your situation and your net family income, goes from $710 to $731;
• the monthly deductible increases from $22.25 to $22.90;
• coinsurance decreases from 35% to 33%;
• the maximum monthly contribution is set at $99.65 if you do not receive the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS), and at $56.17 if you are 65 or over and receive the GIS at the rate of 1 at 93%.

Here is a comparison to give you an idea of ​​pharmacy pricing

Example for a $100 drug

According to the Régie d’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ), for equal consumption, no insured person will see their pharmacy contributions increase by more than 3%, and their premium will be increased by a maximum of 3%.

The RAMQ explains in a press release that it is thanks in particular to the inclusion of generic and biosimilar drugs on the list of medications that these rates have been able to be moderated, despite the increase in the number of people insured and the drug consumption.

You can consult the amounts to be paid on the Régie’s website at ramq.gouv.qc.ca.