High hopes for national drug plan
Doctor says program could make big difference for diabetes patients
Joshua Timm has often struggled to pay for his diabetes medication, which costs him hundreds of dollars a month out of pocket.
Since the 39-year-old from Pitt Meadows was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 2012, he's often had to rely on family help to pay for his continuous glucose monitor, which isn't fully covered by B.C.'s pharmacare program.
Timm said he's encouraged that Canada is getting closer to having a national pharmacare program, which will cover diabetes medications and contraceptives after a deal reached this week between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberals and the federal NDP.
“To have things covered a lot more than they are now would be a huge relief,” said Timm, who works for an auto parts company. “It would mean the world to anyone with diabetes. There's people out there in the same situation as me that don't even have benefits from work. If I'm struggling, then I can't imagine how bad it is for others.”
The federal Liberal government introduced a bill Thursday to lay the groundwork for the national pharmacare program. Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh has made a national pharmacare program a pillar of his party's power-sharing agreement with the governing Liberals.
Federal Health Minister Mark Holland made it clear Thursday there is still a long way to go before all drugs in Canada are covered under a national program. Holland estimated the cost of covering diabetes medication and contraception will be around $1.5 billion, but he said that estimate is likely to change as Ottawa negotiates with provinces.
A fully fledged pharmacare program would cost the government nearly $40 billion a year, the parliamentary budget officer estimates.
Canada is the only country in the world with a universal health care system that does not also have universal coverage for prescription drugs outside of hospitals.
Timm's doctor, Dr. Tom Elliott, a Vancouver-based diabetes specialist who runs the B.C. Diabetes clinic, said the national pharmacare program could be transformative for his patients, some of whom have had to choose between groceries and their medication.
“However you look at it, it's big,” said Elliott, who chairs the B.C. Diabetes Foundation. “If it's as good as we hope, then it's the Holy Grail.”
B.C. has had its own pharmacare program since 1974, brought in by Dave Barrett's NDP government.
Elliott has long advocated for B.C. to remove the income-based deductible that requires people with diabetes to pay hundreds or thousands a year out of pocket before the cost of their medication is covered by the B.C. government.
A national pharmacare program would ultimately reduce some prescription costs for British Columbians, said Health Minister Adrian Dix, because it would provide “first dollar coverage” — meaning people would no longer have to pay a deductible.
“So, if it is truly first dollar coverage, it'll be fully covered for everybody who qualifies,” Elliott said.
However, the finer details such as whether there will be income threshold to receive full coverage, “these are the details that make me nervous,” he said.
Diabetes affects nine per cent of the population, or about 450,000 people in B.C.
As for contraception, which has been free for British Columbians since April 2023 after the B.C. NDP included it in last year's budget, Dix said the province will negotiate with Ottawa for funding to offset B.C.'s costs — which were $39 million in the first year.
“It really should be a source of pride for people in B.C. that the reforms we made here (around free birth control) are going to be made national,” Dix said.
Singh told Postmedia News this week that B.C.'s free contraception program was “part of our inspiration” to cover birth control for all Canadians.
“B.C. will be able to get investments from the federal government for the work they've already done and they'll be able to negotiate that,” Singh said. “So that'll free up money that can go back into the health care system to provide other investments necessary” such as front-line health care workers.
Dix said B.C. has no plans to opt out of the national pharmacare program as some provinces have vowed to do.
Alberta Health Minister Adriana LaGrange said earlier this week the province won't be forced into a national program and instead wants Ottawa to give Alberta per capita funding to bolster its own program. LaGrange was frustrated the pharmacare deal was reached without consultation with the provinces and territories.
B.C. United leader Kevin Falcon said provincial and territorial governments should be asking “tough questions” about how the national pharmacare program is going to work.
“I'm always concerned when the federal government tries to muscle into provincial areas of jurisdiction,” said Falcon, a former health and finance minister under the previous B.C. Liberal government.
“Often what happens with the federal government is they will come in with dollars and then somehow years later, they're no longer providing the dollars and the bills are left with the provincial governments.”