The NDP Has Compromised Canada’s Shot at Pharmacare
New legislation seeks to end Canada’s status as the only country with public health care that excludes medication coverage. But the NDP’s incrementalism and willingness to play ball with the Liberals may have compromised the program before it gets started.
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh addresses the media on pharmacare negotiations and other issues in Edmonton, January 25. (Artur Widak / NurPhoto via Getty Images)
A long-overdue first step toward giving Canadians universal prescription drug coverage has been made by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government. It is, however, an incredibly small first step. Once passed, the Pharmacare Act will provide coverage only for diabetes and contraceptive drugs, which Canadians will be able to pick up from their pharmacies free of charge.
The Liberals have promised to add medication coverage to Canada’s meager public health care system since 1997. Canada is the only country in the world that has a universal health care system that excludes prescription drug coverage. As a result, Canadians must rely on employer benefits, private insurance plans, or pay often exorbitant costs for the drugs they need.
In 2019, a Trudeau-appointed advisory panel, led by Dr Eric Hoskins, a former Ontario health minister, recommended that the federal government create a list of essential drugs for a national pharmacare program by the end of 2021. The plan aimed to provide free coverage for low-income Canadians and small co-pays for others. That never happened, so what changed?
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