Thank you, Mr. Chair. We did provide a briefing to the Standing Committee on Social Programs not long ago. We’re still in the early stages, although we have put a number of pieces in place. We did have an initial report done by Alberta Blue Cross on considerations for developing a pharmaceutical strategy. We have done some work with Alberta Blue Cross in terms of implementing changes to how our programs are administered, but we’re really at the early stages of putting together the components of a
pharmaceutical strategy. Some of the things we know we need to look at are catastrophic drug coverage, expensive drugs, and the possible review of our formulary. Right now we use the NIHB formulary. We are working with other provinces and territories under the Council of the Federation initiative to look at generic drug pricing.
A key priority on our work plan this year is to do what the Member is talking about, which is looking at potential for cost savings. Part of that will come through common procurement and bulk purchasing, and I did talk earlier about how all of our authorities have agreed that moving to common procurement has to be a priority under our back office initiative, so we’re putting a work plan in place for that. We are also going to be working this year to do a more detailed analysis, drilling down into the potential for other cost-saving potential and how we acquire pharmaceuticals.
