By Aaron Mahoney (@Mahones93 on Twitter)

SACPA session takes aim at Canada establishing a national Pharmacare Program

Jan 24, 2019 | 1:12 PM

LETHBRIDGE – Canada, out of all the developed countries that currently have universal single-payer health-care systems, is the only one that does not include coverage for prescription drugs.

In the federal government’s 2018 budget, an Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare was established. Led by Dr. Eric Hoskins, the former Minister of Health in Ontario, the goal is to provide independent advice on how to best implement a national pharmacare program in a manner that is affordable for Canadians and their families, employers and governments.

Pharmacare is a system of health insurance coverage that provides people with access to necessary prescription drugs.

On Thursday, Jan. 24, a national pharmacare program was the topic of discussion at the Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs. Executive Director of the Friends of Medicare, Sandra Azocar, has been an advocate for a fair and equal society for more than 30 years in Alberta.

Her past experience includes working as a child protection worker, and volunteer work within the Chilean community as well as the labour movement.

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She has served in many positions in the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) including vice-president from 2007-2012.

Azocar says not including medication coverage in our single-payer system translates into 1 in 10 Canadians not being able to afford their medications.

“In Alberta, it’s even higher, where 1 in 5 Albertans are not able to afford their medication. I think the universality of our healthcare system ends as soon as you’re given a prescription. If you’re fortunate enough to have coverage to some degree, then some people are able to afford medication but sometimes the co-payments and deductibles are too much for people,” Azocar said.

There are currently 23 different public drug and supplementary plans within Alberta alone, but they provide benefits for just 20 percent of Albertans.

Within Canada, there is a patchwork of drug coverage, with more than 100,000 different drug and supplementary plans. Even factoring in private and work plans, which cannot be relied upon, the cost of plans in Canada are expensive while the co-payments are cost-prohibitive.

The push for a pharmacare program, according to Azocar, is the unfinished business of Medicare in Canada.

“At the inception of our system, we talked about affordability. We made a pledge as Canadians that nobody would ever have to die because they couldn’t afford healthcare, but last year alone according to a study done by the Canadian Federation of Nurses, over 400 people died because they couldn’t afford their diabetic medication.”

Another major shortcoming of the current system is the costly burden on the health-care system, and most importantly, the human costs caused by the financial barriers to necessary and life-saving medications.

In a 2015 Angus Reid Poll, 91 percent of Canadians and 92 percent of Albertans supported a national pharmacare plan.

“This has been a plan that’s been spoken about for decades now but has never gone anywhere, and what we’re doing right now is trying to push this program to the finish line,” Azocar continued. “There’s currently the political will, and 2019 is going to be a very important year.”

It could be the first expansion of the healthcare system since its inception.

It’s something Azocar believes is worth talking about, and for people to become aware that we can do better because no Canadian should have to die because they can’t afford their medications.

$16.4 billion is what’s been identified as the amount that would be the initial investment, which would amount to a two percent increase in new spending by the federal government to implement.

Azocar says the savings as a result of implementation would outweigh the short-term costs.

“We would see savings down the road, $7.1 billion in household expenditures in medication and over $9 billion in other programs that currently cover Canadians. The savings are there for us to take advantage of, but most importantly it’s the human lives that we’re talking about. I think the question should not be who pays and how much, but how many people are going to benefit.”

Those in the healthcare field believe with the federal government’s advisory council, there’s a real window of opportunity this year.

“Because the Liberal government came in with the intent to open up the conversation, and we’re on the cusp of the report coming down from the advisory council. It’s supposed to be a committee that actually talks about implementation and the blueprint for what the program will look like, so 2019 is going to the year and it’ll be the first time we have an opportunity to expand our healthcare system as we know it,” Azocar stated.