Canadian Life & Health Insurance Facts // 2026 Edition 15
Helping Canadians afford high-cost prescription medication
Health Insurance
L I N E S O F B U S I N E S S
EP3s benefited almost 44,000
employees and their families,
whose annual drug claims
exceeded $10,000.
60 new high-cost drugs were made
available through the pool in 2025.
CDIPC's pooling framework of
member companies eliminated
over $1.12 billion in out-of-pocket
expenses for high-cost drugs
while maintaining the affordability
of benefits plans for small- to
medium-sized employers.
Some medications can cost upwards of
$50,000 annually. Through the Canadian
Drug Insurance Pooling Corporation
(CDIPC), many CLHIA members work
together to pool these costs across
multiple plans, helping maintain access
to coverage.
In 2025, the 21-member insurance
companies belonging to CDIPC's high-cost
drug framework provided Extended Policy
Protection Plans (EP3s) to almost 19,000
small- to medium-sized employers who
had at least one employee with annual
drug costs exceeding $10,000. This EP3
framework is one of the world's only
privately funded and managed solutions
to pool high-cost drugs.
High-cost drug inflation outpaced the
Consumer Price Index for 2025 by almost
400 per cent. Despite this, CDIPC member
companies continue to help Canadians
access expensive medications by pooling
the cost of high-cost drug claims,
protecting individuals and families from
significant out-of-pocket expenses.
CDIPC at a glance
