CIPO’s Position Statement on Private Insurance and Blood Products

June 20, 2018

Canadian Immunodeficiencies Patient Organization position statement on private insurance and blood products

In April, CSL Behring listed the subcutaneous immune globulin product, Hizentra, with private payers for reimbursement. As of today, it has been approved on some open plan formularies.

At this time, CIPO is unable to support the listing of plasma protein products with private insurance providers. It is our position that in accordance with the founding principles of the Krever Commission, the blood system in Canada should be and remain public and accessible to all Canadians. The move to private payers is discriminatory and exclusive, and creates a dangerous dual private/public system within the blood and blood product system.

Given the current state of plasma protein products in Canada, and the high cost of said products, it is imperative that patient groups, governments, regulators, and industry work together to protect and ensure access and supply for patients going forward. The introduction of private payers and the creation of a two-tiered, public/private system into the immune globulin world is, in our view, extremely precarious and can create “a slippery slope”, opening the door for the de-listing of these essential life-sustaining products from the public system altogether.

CIPO will continue to advocate for patient choice, innovation and access in the public blood system, as is the Canadian patient’s right.

CIPO does not hold CSL Behring to any ill intent in this matter.

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ImmUnity Canada is a national charity with five provincial chapters across the country.

We empower Canadians impacted by immunodeficiency disorders to live well through education, support, advocacy, community-building, and research.

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