The federal government is being urged to develop a pharmacare program in Canada for prescription drugs.
An advisory council, headed by former Ontario Health Minister Eric Hoskins, recommends it be a universal, single-payer system beginning as early at 2022 and completed by 2027
Hoskins says, “we are advising the federal government to move immediately and to engage and deliver national pharmacare at a page the province and territories are enabled to.”
The report says such a universal plan would cost $15 billion annually when it is fully up and running and save taxpayers about $5 billion a year with the average family saving $450 annually which Hoskins calls “enormous.”
He notes while “there are significant incremental costs to building national pharmacare…these costs are already being paid by Canadians.”
The Council delivered 60 recommendations.
You can read the full report here: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/corporate/about-health-canada/public-engagement/external-advisory-bodies/implementation-national-pharmacare/final-report.html …
