Grant: Project Grant

Canada is the only country with a universal health insurance system that does not provide coverage for prescription drugs to all residents. One-third of working-age Canadians have no insurance. Importantly, many of these uninsured patients already face other barriers to good health: low income, new immigrants, single mothers, etc. For these patients, taking prescription drugs - especially chronic disease treatments that may be required lifelong - can be difficult due to high costs. Patients skip doses, delay renewing prescriptions, or simply do not fill prescriptions recommended by their doctors, because they do not have insurance to cover the costs of prescriptions. The goal of our research is to understand whether providing free medications for these patients leads to better health care outcomes and is cost-effective. Diabetes is a chronic disease common in working-age adults. People with diabetes are at risk for complications of the disease, but prescription drugs to treat blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol can reduce this risk. Previous research by our team has suggested that the lack of a universal drug insurance program for working-age Canadians affects the health and well-being of low-income people with diabetes. We will conduct a study to determine whether providing free prescription drugs for blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol for adults with diabetes under 65 reduces diabetes complications. This proposal is for a pilot study to make sure we can identify and recruit patients, implement the drug insurance intervention, and collect data on diabetes complications, mortality, risk factor control and healthcare system costs.