by Hassan Yussuff
Nobody should have to choose between buying groceries and paying for the medication they need. That’s why Canada’s unions are proud to be playing a leading role in the push for universal pharmacare.
Today, about one-third of working Canadians don’t have health plans at work. In fact, the less you earn at work, the less likely you are to have any prescription drug coverage.
This means women and young workers – especially those stuck in precarious jobs where employer-funded health coverage is rare – are hardest hit. Even those fortunate enough to have drug plans are paying ever-increasing co-payments and deductibles.
In Canada’s North, where basic living expenses are so much higher, out-of-pocket medication costs pose even more of a constraint than elsewhere in the country.
Canada is the only developed country in the world with a universal health care program that doesn’t include a universal prescription drug plan.
Our patchwork prescription drug system is inefficient and expensive. It has left Canadians with wildly varying prescription drug coverage and access. Many are paying different rates for the same medications.
That has resulted in 3.5-million Canadians being unable to afford medication they need. Many are skipping doses, splitting pills, or simply not filling their prescriptions at all.
And doctors warn that it’s almost impossible to come up with effective care plans when they aren’t sure their patients can afford to take their medications as prescribed. That, of course, can have serious implications their health, and can end up costing the health care system – and all of us – even more down the road.
So it’s no surprise that numerous surveys and polls show that Canadians overwhelmingly agree we need pharmacare.
Over the last few months we’ve been campaigning hard – alongside business leaders, doctors, retirees and other allies – and we have seen progress.
Two studies have been released demonstrating that pharmacare would save billions. The first, by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and Canadian Doctors for Medicare, estimated almost $11 billion a year in savings for governments, the private sector, and individual Canadians. The second, by the Parliamentary Budget Officer, estimated $4.2 billion a year in savings for the federal government alone.
A few weeks ago, the federal government announced it was creating an advisory council to move the issue forward. And this week, a Parliamentary committee announced its support for pharmacare.
These are great steps forward, but we aren’t there yet.
Since we launched our online campaign – called A Plan for Everyone – in the fall, more than 50,000 people have signed on in support. I hope readers here will add their voices too.
And I hope that soon, we can celebrate finally having a plan that covers everyone in Canada, regardless of their income, age or where they work or live.