Liberals back down on raising drug costs
Backlash from seniors prompts Queen’s Park to change gear on deductibles
The wrath of seniors has proved too much for Ontario’s Liberal government, which is backing down on a controversial push to raise drug costs for those who don’t qualify as lowincome earners.
Health Minister Eric Hoskins said Monday the province is abandoning a move to raise public drug plan deductibles for most seniors by 70 per cent to $170 a year and co-payments by a dollar to $7.11 per prescription.
“We heard from them,” he acknowledged after making the announcement at a pharmacy near the Dupont subway station.
“We will not be increasing the contribution from seniors who do not qualify for the low-income program. The status quo will remain.”
Those increases — first announced in the late-February budget — caused an immediate backlash and quickly sent Premier Kathleen Wynne’s government scrambling to the drawing board. Monday’s announcement means seniors who don’t qualify as low-income will continue to pay a $100 annual deductible and co-pays of $6.11.
In a new wrinkle, the low-income thresholds taking effect Aug. 1will be indexed to inflation, which Hoskins said will bring another 30,000 seniors a year under the protection of the low-income program.
It has no annual deductible and lower co-pays of $2.
The low-income thresholds were raised in the February budget to $19,300 for single seniors — up from $16,018 — and to $32,300 for couples, a jump from $24,175.
Critics had warned the thresholds were still low and that seniors with incomes just above them would have trouble affording more cash for their deductibles and co-pays.
“Any increase in the number of Ontario seniors who will not have to worry about their ability to cover the costs of their prescription medication is welcome news,” Wanda Morris of CARP, an organization representation older Canadians, said of the new changes she called “another win for seniors.”
About 50 seniors’ and health groups had written an open letter outlining their concerns to Wynne in recent weeks.
The increased deductibles had been intended to help subsidize the cost of bringing about 173,000 more seniors under the low-income threshold, saving them an average of $130 a year on out-of-pocket drug costs.
Hoskins said he did not have a dollar figure on how much it will cost the government in revenue to forego the higher deductibles and finance the indexing as it reconsiders all public drug programs in a wide-ranging review.
Opposition parties said the Liberal flip-flop is proof the government rushed consultations on the budget, which was delivered weeks earlier than usual.
“I’m glad they’re correcting course but it just shows how out of touch they are with seniors,” said Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown.
The change was an ill-considered “mistake,” said NDP Leader Andrea Horwath.
“They obviously didn’t bother to engage seniors at all and then they were forced to backtrack after the seniors showed outrage.”