4 February 2019 - Last week, Reuters reported that the Trudeau government is planning to introduce pharmacare in its next budget – but that it will be a limited, “gap-filling” program, rather than a taxpayer-financed, medicare-style plan.

Pharmacare comes in two flavours: a variety that looks like medicare, with the government displacing private insurers, and a variety that builds on the status quo, with most Canadians covered by their employer’s private drug plan. Each of these can satisfy Canada’s needs. 

But to work, each one must include a deeper reform of how Canada sets drug prices, negotiates purchases, limits or eliminates patient charges and, if Canada keeps a private insurance system, prevents premiums from spiralling upward.

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