Posted by Michael Wonder on 20 Mar 2019
Where is the champion for Pharmacare?
20 March 2019 - With the possible exception of a few drug company executives, Canadians overwhelmingly support universal pharmacare — and they have for years.
But like a reluctant swimmer who inches closer and closer to the water but never jumps in, the federal government keeps inching toward implementing a national pharmacare program but just can’t seem to take that final plunge and actually do it.
The latest tiny step forward came this week when Finance Minister Bill Morneau released his latest federal budget in which he announced some “foundational” measures on the path to national pharmacare.
The moves include setting up a national drug agency to allow bulk buying of drugs by the provinces and pledging to spend $500 million a year, starting in 2022, to lower the high cost of drugs for rare diseases.
