Between 1970 and 1986, all Canadian provinces introduced some version of a prescription drug subsidy for those aged 65 years or over and since 1986, all the provinces have increased copayments or deductibles to some degree. Employing a first-order approximation to the welfare gains from a subsidy, we find evidence that these subsidies have been less redistributive than an absolute per household cash transfer but slightly more redistributive than a transfer that would increase each household’s income by the same percentage. Such evidence may have relevance for predicting the redistributive effects of a potential national prescription drug plan for seniors in the US.
Authors
Research Fellow University of Michigan
Tom is a Research Fellow at IFS, a Research Professor for the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan.
Sule Alan
Paul Grootendorst
Michael R Veall
Journal article details
- DOI
- 10.1016/S0167-6296(02)00012-7
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- JEL
- I18, J42
- Issue
- Volume 21, Issue 5, September 2002
Suggested citation
Alan, S et al. (2002). 'The effects of drug subsidies on out-of-pocket prescription drug expenditures by seniors: regional evidence from Canada' 21(5/2002)
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