Federal committee recommends national pharmacare

OTTAWA (NEWS 1130) – You won’t have to worry about the cost of prescription drugs, even if you don’t have health benefits.

A federal committee is recommending a national pharmacare plan and is out with 18 recommendations for its creation.

It would be publicly funded with costs shared between Ottawa and the provinces.

One of the recommendations includes a national bulk buying program to reduce the cost of prescriptions drug.

Liberal committee chair Bill Casey says Canadians are paying too much for drugs and a national PharmaCare program would help reduce those costs. “I was surprised to learn that of the 29 OECD countries, we either have the most expensive pharmaceuticals or we’re in third place and there’s 26 other countries that pay less for pharmaceuticals than we do.”

Conservative Health Critic Marilyn Gladu says there is some consensus among all parties. “Everybody at health committee was on the same page, with wanting to make sure that all Canadians can get coverage for their prescription medications.”

That said, Gladu admits the consensus isn’t reached on every issue, and adds the report won’t answer all questions.

“The end goal is the agreement, that everybody wants Canadians to have this kind of coverage. The question is how, and how much is it going to cost, and what’s the plan to pay for it.”

Gladu points out a large portion of any pharmacare plan will have to be negotiated with the provinces.

Federal Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor says she is anxious to see what the committee has to say.

“I’m going to be reading that report from cover to cover.”

Last fall, the parliamentary budget watchdog warned it could cost $19 billion a year to adopt a national PharmaCare plan. The federal Liberals are not expected to act on PharmaCare until at least a year from now when their own advisory group led by former Ontario health minister Eric Hoskins reports its findings on the feasibility of a national program.