Province reserves judgment on new national drug plan announced by feds
Awaits details on costs, `limited scope' of Ottawa's pharmacare proposal
While Quebec and Alberta have already announced plans to opt out of the recently proposed national pharmacare program, the Government of Saskatchewan says “more information is needed.”
Saskatchewan already has “one of the most comprehensive drug coverage plans in Canada,” said an emailed statement from the province provided Thursday.
The statement emphasized the need to roll out implementation of the policy in partnership with the provinces and territories.
“At this time, the cost to the province for a national pharmacare program being implemented in Saskatchewan is unknown,” the statement said, adding the government “looks forward to being consulted around program details.”
At this point a bill has been tabled by federal Health Minister Mark Holland. Within 30 days of the bill receiving royal assent, Holland will assemble a committee of experts that will make recommendations about how to pay for a national, universal, single-payer plan. That, is still a long ways off.
The program as proposed would allow the feds to negotiate with provinces and territories specifically over birth control and diabetes drugs coverage, with the intention of expanding coverage over time.
A joint statement from Saskatchewan NDP health critic Vicki Mowat and rural and remote health critic Jared Clarke said the national pharmacare plan will be good for all of Canada.
“Too many people in Saskatchewan don't have access to the medications they need, and the Sask. Party government needs to get to the table and ensure a deal that provides coverage for diabetes medication and contraceptives for everyone in our province,” said the statement.
“Premier Scott Moe has been doing a lot of globe-trotting lately and is one of the last Premiers to successfully negotiate a new health care funding agreement,” it continued. “We need to see progress on that as well.”
Though Alberta does plan to opt out of the program, it still wants to receive its per-capita share of dollars allocated to the program.
“We were not consulted about the federal government's plan and, although information available to us is limited, we have concerns about the proposed limited scope,” Alberta's Minister of Health Adriana Lagrange told media earlier this week.
In its current form, this first step toward a national pharmacare program is expected to cost somewhere in the neighbourhood of $1.5 billion.