Single-payer pharmacare would cost billions more a year, but save economy money: PBO

The parliamentary budget officer says a single-payer universal drug plan would cost the federal and provincial governments $11.2 billion in the first year, and $13.4 billion in five years.

The PBO's report released today provides an estimate for the cost of a pharmacare program between 2024-25 and 2027-28.

It calculates the incremental cost of the program, taking into account current spending by governments on public drug plans as well as revenue that would be generated from co-pays under a pharmacare plan.

The Liberals have promised to table pharmacare legislation this fall as part of the supply-and-confidence deal the government struck with the NDP.

The PBO's report finds that while the public sector would spend more on drugs, the implementation of a pharmacare plan would lead to economy-wide savings.

The PBO estimates cost savings on drug expenditures of $1.4 billion in 2024-25, with that figure increasing to $2.2 billion by 2027-28.