New federal pharmacare legislation is an important opportunity to give all Canadian women access to effective contraception and realize the right to reproductive health.
Under a pharmacare plan, a single bargaining agent negotiates for lower prices from drug companies.
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Pharmaceutical and insurance industries that could lose profit through lower drug prices are not happy that a pharmacare bill is planned for fall. They are speaking out and mobilizing their allies.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during his victory speech on election night, Sept. 21, 2021.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
Canada’s lack of pharmacare harms health in our communities, strains our health-care system and encumbers our economy. Parliament is out of excuses for not implementing a national drug plan.
During the federal election campaign, Liberals promised to take critical steps to implement pharmacare. Will they deliver?
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To implement pharmacare, the Liberals will need to negotiate with the provinces, and the mostly Conservative premiers are unlikely to make this easy. The insurance industry also has much to lose.
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau delivers his speech in Montreal, on October 22, 2019.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
The election results could mean a national pharmacare program will happen, albeit slowly. Canadians can also expect more safe injection sites and money invested in the opioid crisis.
A letter to leaders of Canada’s political parties signed by 1200 academics with expertise in health care calls for parties to commit to a national pharmacare plan.
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The 1964 report that paved the way for Canada’s medicare envisaged that after universal coverage for doctors, the next step would be prescription drugs. But that next step hasn’t come.