RAMQ drug plan premiums going up as of July 1

Quebecers on the province's public-health insurance plan can expect to be paying more come July 1.

The annual premium, paid to Revenue Quebec at tax time, will increase from $611 to $640.

The in-pharmacy monthly deductible will also go up to $18, from the previous $16.65.

The monthly maximum deductible will go change from $83.83 to $85.75 for people between the ages of 18 and 64.

People 65 and up receiving the provincial guaranteed income supplement will see their monthly maximum deductible increase from $51.16 to $51.83.

Co-insurance will cost 34 per cent of the prescription price tag, instead of the previous 32.5 per cent.

The Couillard government attributed the increases to the growing cost of new hepatitis C medications, as well as the growth in number of participants in the RAMQ program and the volume of drugs they consume.

Quebec is the only Canadian province that makes individual prescription-drug insurance mandatory.