| Relief | Having access to medicines relieved stress |
“The biggest benefit that I found was … piece of mind with being less anxious about the medicines that I’m getting, that, like, I don’t have to worry about it. … It’s very stressful to be constantly shopping around and shopping around and shopping around for everything all the time” (Participant A) “It [learning they will get free access to only a short list of medicines] was a big pressure taken off my shoulders” (Participant B) “Well, [the most helpful part was] not having to struggle to come up with money to pay for my most expensive prescriptions” (Participant C) “I thought it was a good idea … [and] that it’ll definitely help out, because medications are expensive” (Participant D) “I feel … I probably couldn’t afford it if it wasn’t for the program” (Participant E)
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| Most participants did not have initial concerns about the list |
“No, I didn’t actually [have concerns] right, because the ones that are on it are quite helpful to have on it, actually” (Participant F) “The only problem is some of the other medications I take are very expensive, so this has helped me immensely because it’s taken the burden off the other medications that you don’t cover” (Participant G) “I would have preferred [having] an income and … some of the more expensive ones were not covered” (Participant A)
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| Trust in health care professionals | Participants trusted health care professionals to switch medicines |
“The doctors seem fine with that, [the study pharmacist] seems fine with that, so I don’t have any problems with substitutes” (Participant G) “As long as it [switching medicines] was OK with my family physician” (Participant H)
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| Participants felt that health care professionals should decide which medicines are on a publicly funded list |
“I think the doctors in the medical profession should be the ones to decide [which medicines are on a publicly funded list], because they are the ones that know what their patients need; I think they are the ones that should decide on what should be on the list. They are people who are dealing with it directly, they are dealing with patients directly, so they know what their patients need” (Participant I) “I’d say the doctors should have some sort of input. … They are the ones that are prescribing them, so I think they would be good ones to know … what kinds of meds, who needs them, and when they need them” (Participant B)
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| Participants felt that government bodies should not decide which medicines are publicly funded |
“I think the clinicians or physicians … have a better idea of who needs what and the ones in demand and the ones that [are] most expensive as well. So, I don’t [think] the government knows a lot of what most people need” (Participant E) “Government bodies don’t necessarily all the time have the best interest of the people” (Participant J) “I don’t think they [government bodies] should have a say. I think it should be left up to the professionals to decide that” (Participant H)
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| Publicly funding a short list of essential medicines | Most patients supported publicly funding a short list of frequently used medicines |
“Why not? I think that’s a good idea, ‘cause I think that there’s probably people that it would help significantly” (Participant F) “Yeah, well, it would be wonderful if we all had free medications if our government would pass something like that, but I don’t see that happening” (Participant K) “Especially the ones [medicines] that people take the most [should be publicly funded], you know?” (Participant C) “It’s definitely a bonus, it’s a plus. … I think that it’s some of the most common drugs, so I think there’s a lot of people on them, so any relief is obviously a help” (Participant J)
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| Two patients felt that a short list of medicines should not be publicly funded for everyone |
“For everyone? I don’t know for everyone because some people like me, they need it. So, of course it’s good. But I don’t know for everyone ever, maybe everyone will be happy” (Participant L)
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| Participants felt that only individuals with higher incomes and those concerned about increased taxes or paying for others’ medicines would oppose publicly funding medicines |
“There are always going to be people out there that disagree with other people being given things for free … [and] there’s always going to be people that say well they can afford it, why can’t they buy it, right? Or people complain that, you know, what’s it going to do to the taxpayer, the taxpayer’s going to have to pay for everybody else to get something for nothing. There’s always that attitude, doesn’t matter what you do” (Participant F) “I think most people would agree that it should be funded. I know there’s some people that would be against it because they feel like they’re paying for someone else to have their medication where you know even low-income people pay taxes. … I know there’s a lot of … classism when you start talking about giving people stuff for free” (Participant C) “I think like maybe not the working class but the higher one that’s making more than enough to properly provide [for themselves would object]. … I don’t think the working class or the poor would have issue with it” (Participant M)
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| Many patients preferred a longer list if used for publicly funding medicines for the general population |
“It would be nice if they could expand the list, but I mean, I think I’d speak for a lot of people that just having access to some medicines is good” (Participant G) “I would say that it’s good that some of my medicines are covered. That’s good. It would be better if all of them were covered … but, you know, there certainly is a benefit for having some of them covered” (Participant A) “Yes, actually, [for] 2 of the medications that … the doctor prescribed for me … with [the pharmacist’s help] … they were able to make some changes and find another medication that was very close to, and in 1 case it was actually better [than] what was actually prescribed, so there was a case [with] 2 of the medications [for which] they were able to find substitutes” (Participant G)
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| One patient attempted switching from a medicine not on the list to 1 that was but no on-list medicine worked for them |
“There were a couple of different ones [medicines] I tried because my doctor had prescribed me something that wasn’t on the list, but it didn’t work very well for me anyways, so I’m not taking that anymore” (Participant C)
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