29 days until the election…and moving closer to universal drug coverage!
As a family physician in Cape Breton, I see how an inability to pay for medications impacts my patients daily. A woman who can’t pay for her cancer medications, even with a private insurance plan. A man whose blood pressure continues to be dangerously high because he rations his pills. A child who is constantly running out of his asthma puffers because his parents can’t afford them. A teenager who is not taking his insulin because his father lost his job out west so their family no longer has coverage.
I heard many more stories when bringing a motion to support national pharmacare to municipal councils — both Victoria and Inverness counties have passed motions, and added their voices to local governments across the country.
We know that between 3 and 6 million Canadians are not able to afford their prescription drugs every year, and that is likely as high as one in five families now. Some groups are hit harder than others — for example, you are less likely to have a drug benefit plan if you are low-income, if you work part-time, and if you are a woman. People who can’t take their medications are more likely to have a poorer quality of life and require more hospital care.
Canada is the only country with a universal health care system that does not also have a national pharmacare program. Research shows that implementing pharmacare would create significant cost savings — at least $7 billion dollars, according to a recent study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. And in a recent poll, 91% of Canadians indicated that they want a national drug plan to be part of our public system.
Too often, our conversations about health care, and all social services, revolve around slowing the erosion, trying to prevent cuts. What is so exciting about this election is that the conversations taking place across the country extend beyond this usual narrative.
The NDP has provided an opportunity to address one of the biggest gaps in Medicare: the lack of universal drug coverage.
The NDP has allocated $2.6 billion over for years with a commitment to work with the provinces so that everyone in Canada, regardless of their income, will can access their medications at little to no cost. Other aspects of the plan include a process to better assess quality and safety, and to ensure international trade agreements do not drive up drug costs.
National pharmacare is an area I have a particular interest in, as a long-time advocate in my previous role as Chair of Canadian Doctors for Medicare. As an MP, I would want to be closely involved with creating a system that would provide universal coverage for medically necessary prescription drugs.
(Infographic via Canadian Doctors for Medicare: http://www.canadiandoctorsformedicare.ca/)
As a family physician in Cape Breton, I see how an inability to pay for medications impacts my patients daily. A woman who can’t pay for her cancer medications, even with a private insurance plan. A man whose blood pressure continues to be dangerously high because he rations his pills. A child who is constantly running out of his asthma puffers because his parents can’t afford them. A teenager who is not taking his insulin because his father lost his job out west so their family no longer has coverage.
I heard many more stories when bringing a motion to support national pharmacare to municipal councils — both Victoria and Inverness counties have passed motions, and added their voices to local governments across the country.
We know that between 3 and 6 million Canadians are not able to afford their prescription drugs every year, and that is likely as high as one in five families now. Some groups are hit harder than others — for example, you are less likely to have a drug benefit plan if you are low-income, if you work part-time, and if you are a woman. People who can’t take their medications are more likely to have a poorer quality of life and require more hospital care.
Canada is the only country with a universal health care system that does not also have a national pharmacare program. Research shows that implementing pharmacare would create significant cost savings — at least $7 billion dollars, according to a recent study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. And in a recent poll, 91% of Canadians indicated that they want a national drug plan to be part of our public system.
Too often, our conversations about health care, and all social services, revolve around slowing the erosion, trying to prevent cuts. What is so exciting about this election is that the conversations taking place across the country extend beyond this usual narrative.
The NDP has provided an opportunity to address one of the biggest gaps in Medicare: the lack of universal drug coverage.
The NDP has allocated $2.6 billion over for years with a commitment to work with the provinces so that everyone in Canada, regardless of their income, will can access their medications at little to no cost. Other aspects of the plan include a process to better assess quality and safety, and to ensure international trade agreements do not drive up drug costs.
National pharmacare is an area I have a particular interest in, as a long-time advocate in my previous role as Chair of Canadian Doctors for Medicare. As an MP, I would want to be closely involved with creating a system that would provide universal coverage for medically necessary prescription drugs.
(Infographic via Canadian Doctors for Medicare: http://www.canadiandoctorsformedicare.ca/)
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