Universal Pharmacare is Needed – Especially in Light of COVID-19 Economic and Health Impacts

The Surrey Board of Trade continues to advocate for a single-payer universal pharmacare program since 2016. With rising costs of medications, many businesses are seeing their bottom line erode and some find they simply cannot afford to provide insurance plans for their employees.

Heavy burden on business Drug coverage in Canada is provided through an incomplete patchwork of private and public programs that vary across provinces. This fragmented system limits people’s access to medicines, diminishes our drug purchasing power, duplicates administrative costs, and isolates pharmaceutical management from the management of medical and hospital care.

It is needlessly costing Canadian businesses billions of dollars every year. Prescription drugs are the largest and fastest growing component of extended health benefits in Canada. Business owners should not be responsible for managing access to these lifesaving medications. No comparable country with universal health care requires individual employers to do so.

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