Despite the historic passage of pharmacare legislation, its rollout remains uncertain. While some provinces have already reached deals with Ottawa, others remain in discussions.
Articles on Pharmacare Canada
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New federal pharmacare legislation is an important opportunity to give all Canadian women access to effective contraception and realize the right to reproductive health.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Top contributors
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Associate professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto; York University, Canada; University of Sydney
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Assistant Professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto
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PhD Candidate (Epidemiology), University of Toronto
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Associate Professor, Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary
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Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Calgary
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Professor of Medicine and Health Economics, University of Calgary
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Professor, Department of History, University of Guelph
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PhD Candidate in Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary