Pass on pharmacare a disservice to Albertans

Province's resistance to national plan doesn't make sense, Kerry Yang says.

It didn't take long after the federal government announced its plan for a national pharmacare plan covering diabetes and contraception before Alberta expressed interest in opting out. Instead of taking part in the program, Alberta Health Minister Adriana LaGrange said Alberta already has “robust” coverage, and the focus should instead be on enhancing programs that currently exist.

It would have been prudent of LaGrange to take the time to understand why the current system does not work, and how national pharmacare would revolutionize access to medicine, before deciding to opt out.

But since that wasn't done, this article will explain why.

According to Diabetes Canada, it is estimated that in 2023, diabetes and its complications cost the Alberta health-care system $514 million, with 80 per cent of the cost coming from the treatment of diabetes-related complications in acute care settings. With proper management, many of these complications can be prevented or delayed, but among the nearly 1.3 million Albertans living with diabetes or pre-diabetes, many are unable to afford proper management. In individuals with Type 2 diabetes, out-of-pocket costs can be upward of $5,641, while those with Type 1 diabetes can pay up to $6,557 per year.

Even among those with coverage, there are caps on what plans will cover, including Alberta Blue Cross. Not covering all costs related to diabetes medications, devices and supplies will only reduce the quality of life among those with diabetes, but also increase the burden on hospitals, leading to increased wait times and fewer resources for everyone else.

Although many individuals have coverage for contraception under private pharmaceutical plans, a substantial portion do not, especially those who are young or low-income. Even if someone has coverage, there is often significant variability.

For certain forms of contraception, such as the intrauterine device, coverage is quite variable on private plans, and coverage is usually only 70 per cent to 80 per cent of the cost. If an unwanted pregnancy were to occur, the average medical cost would be $2,129. Thus, covering contraception not only improves access to reproductive rights, it also offers long-term cost savings.

Aside from the direct health benefits, Alberta's choice of opting out will harm national unity and the benefits it provides.

Ever since Canada's founding in 1867, health care has been a provincial responsibility. Getting a universal healthcare system was a feat in and of itself, so given the political climate back when medicare was first created, it is understandable why national pharmacare was initially left out.

Yet what does not make sense is Alberta's current opposition. Canadians spend 43 per cent more per capita on retail pharmaceuticals compared to other Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries, where universal pharmacare is the norm. This is due to higher drug costs and inefficiencies from the private sector that can be better addressed by national pharmacare with buy-in from every province. Universal pharmacare would not only be able to reduce costs through collective bargaining and bulk purchasing, it will also address the challenges caused by private insurers.

Along with taking tax subsidies and having higher administrative costs than public plans, private insurers waste more than $5 billion a year on medications. This is because most private plans cover any Health Canada approved drug, regardless of price or effectiveness.

The reason why provincial formularies take longer to add new drugs is because they actually do cost-effectiveness analysis rather than waste money on new drugs that aren't even better than what currently exists.

By moving toward a universal system, Canadians can save up to 42 per cent on drug costs overall.

Collective effort is essential to change the inefficient and ineffective pharmacare landscape currently in Canada. By not joining the national pharmacare plan, Alberta is not just setting up every Albertan for failure, but every other Canadian as well.

If LaGrange cares about providing the best possible health care for all Albertans, the decision she needs to make is clear. Only time will tell whether she makes it.