Issue link: http://clhia.uberflip.com/i/406567
28 THEREFORE, THE CLHIA RECOMMENDS THAT: • GOVERNMENTS, IN COLLABORATION WITH THE PRIVATE SECTOR, WORK TOWARDS THE DEVELOPMENT OF A COMMON, NATIONAL MINIMUM FORMULARY. c.3 Development of High Cost Drug Strategy Over the last few years there has been a significant increase in the number of very high cost prescription drug therapies available and being prescribed to patients and this trend is expected to accelerate. These prescription drugs have a significant annual cost (some can be well over $50,000 per year) and are typically indicated for genetic enzyme disorders, cancer treatments, and auto-immune disorders. Such disorders are likely to be long-term in nature and to result in very significant ongoing costs. Currently, specialty drugs represent about 20 per cent of plan costs for employers, but only one per cent of total claims. They are forecast to represent 25 to 35 per cent of cost by 2015. 15 The rapid expansion of the incidence of very high cost and recurring drugs represents not only a significant challenge for employer sponsored plans, but for provincial drug plans as well. To date, there has been no concerted action by provinces to implement a comprehensive high cost drug strategy. In spite of this, the Canadian life and health insurance industry launched a national drug pooling agreement in January 2013 that collectively protects fully insured private drug plans from the full financial impact of high cost drugs. This will help ensure that Canadians with fully insured employer drug benefit plans can continue to access the drugs they need. This initiative is a significant step forward but more can be done. 15 ESI 2011 Drug Trend Report.