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TORONTO — Ontario has reached a tentative agreement with the province’s pharmacists that will see them take millions of dollars less in payments over the next half decade.

The deal, outlined in a Ministry of Health letter obtained by The Canadian Press, shows the province will save $436 million under the new reimbursement model.

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The changes would see the province pocket a portion of the dispensing fees and mark-ups that pharmacists currently receive on all drug claims.

It would also see the government pay pharmacists a flat fee for every patient receiving prescriptions in a long-term care home rather than paying for each individual prescription that’s issued.

The government has been negotiating with pharmacists for months to reach the proposal, which must still be passed by Ontario’s legislature.

The new arrangement will also scrap a $2 co-payment that long-term care residents currently pay on each prescription.