Update to BC Pharmacare Dispensing Fees

As plan sponsors continue to manage their group benefits offerings into 2026, they should consider the recent update BC Pharmacare made to its dispensing fee caps and whether this has a corresponding plan impact.

BC PharmaCare updates its dispensing fee cap

The BC Government has announced the following changes to take effect on January 2, 2026:

• The maximum amount PharmaCare will pay per dispense is increasing from $10 to $11
• The maximum number of dispensing fees PharmaCare will pay per day is decreasing, from three to two for clients receiving daily dispensing

Our Comments

While this is a minor change, many plans currently align to BC Pharmacare either directly (by referencing a dispensing fee cap equivalent to BC Pharmacare in their plan) or indirectly (by setting their dispensing fee cap to $10 in their plan).Plans in the latter scenario may wish to consider increasing the fee cap to $11 (taking on slightly more cost for the plan sponsor) to align with PharmaCare or deviate in this regard.

From a cost perspective, this change is minimal and is more a matter of ensuring plans remain aligned to BC PharmaCare if that is their intent.

Jojy Oommen
Partner