A Type 1 diabetes advocate from the United States at a Canadian pharmacy after purchasing lower cost insulin in London, Ontario, on June 29, 2019.CARLOS OSORIO/Reuters
The Canadian Labour Congress is calling on the Liberal government to work with the New Democrats to put forward long-promised pharmacare legislation.
With MPs set to return to work after the holiday break, congress president Bea Bruske told The Globe and Mail that the two parties need to hammer out details of a bill, saying the pace of pharmacare negotiations has been “disconcerting.”
“I know these things don’t happen overnight,” Ms. Bruske said. “But the labour movement has been talking about this for years.”
As part of its supply-and-confidence agreement with the New Democrats, the Liberals have committed to presenting a pharmacare bill by March 1.
One of the stipulations in the original agreement penned in March, 2022 between the NDP and the Liberals was for progress on a universal national pharmacare program by “passing a Canada Pharmacare Act by the end of 2023.”
NDP health critic Don Davies said in December that negotiations remained constructive and progress was being made. “We have therefore agreed to extend discussions to produce legislation by March 1, 2024,” he said at the time.
Liberals and NDP negotiate pharmacare now to fight over it later
The Globe and Mail reported in December that the government does not intend to pursue a single-payer pharmacare plan, which would shift the financial burden from employers and people with out-of-pocket private plans to a government-run program.
Government officials have done various cost analyses that show it would be prohibitively expensive and the best approach is to provide coverage for a set number of drugs, such as those used by people with diabetes, a source with knowledge of the negotiations told The Globe last month. To supply diabetes drugs alone would cost $1-billion annually, the source said.
The Globe is not identifying the source because they are not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
NDP warns pharmacare is ‘red line’ in working agreement with Liberals
The source also said the government is open to an arrangement that would cover a handful of prescription drugs, but Health Minister Mark Holland declined to discuss the matter as negotiations continue with the NDP.
“Certainly, once the negotiations are concluded, I’d be happy to share all of the, you know, machinations that we went through in various iterations,” Mr. Holland told reporters Friday at a Liberal caucus meeting. “But I think it would be unproductive at this point to speculate.”
Ms. Bruske said the health of too many Canadians is being put at risk because of high prices. She urged the government to create a list of medications that would be covered by the pharmacare act and lay out a bulk purchasing plan.
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“When you get that script from the doctor, you’re debating, ‘Can I fill this today? Or do I have to wait till next week?’” Ms. Bruske said.
One in five Canadians did not have access to prescription insurance in 2021, according to Statistics Canada.
Prescription insurance coverage does not necessarily shield consumers from pharmaceutical prices. The same Statistics Canada report found that 16 per cent of people with prescription insurance coverage paid $500 or more for medications in 2021.
A federal advisory council on pharmacare had recommended that Ottawa pay for the incremental cost of implementing national pharmacare, estimating that it would cost $3.5-billion to launch the program with universal coverage for essential medicines.
The report estimated as the national formulary grows to cover a comprehensive list of medications, the annual cost would reach $15.3-billion.
Ms. Bruske also pointed to the high number of work stoppages as an indication that Canadian workers are growing tired of the current economic situation.
Although inflation has cooled to 3.4 per cent after reaching record highs in 2022, Ms. Bruske said many workers are still struggling.
“I don’t know how much longer people living on the edge can afford to be patient,” Ms. Bruske said. “There is real anger, and that anger is driven by fear.”