The first step toward a national universal pharmacare program has now become law in Canada.
The new legislation received royal assent on Oct. 10 and will allow the federal government to strike agreements with provinces and territories to include select diabetes medications and sexual contraceptives in the public health-care system.
The program was passed by the House of Commons last spring during the Liberal government’s supply-and-confidence agreement with the NDP. That agreement ended in September, when the legislation was under consideration by the Senate.
Members of the Carleton University community are welcoming the pharmacare legislation.
Aiden Kallioinen*, the vice-president of government affairs at the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA), said the association has long supported pharmacare.
“Our position at CUSA has always been to expand forms of universal health care and that extends rightly to universal pharmacare coverage,” Kallioinen said.
Currently, CUSA’s Student Care program offers health and dental benefits for most undergraduate students. Under its plan, eligible prescription drug costs and vaccinations are covered at 80 per cent, with a maximum limit of $5,000 per policy year.
Graduate students can be covered by the Graduate Students’ Association’s medical and dental benefits. Under its plan, prescription drug claims are covered at 80 per cent, to a maximum of $2,000 per policy year.
While details are sparse on how the legislation would affect university health plans, Kallioinen said he believes pharmacare would complement CUSA’s Student Care program and ultimately lower costs for students.
“[Having] these services covered under a federal plan is going to make things a lot easier for students,” Kallioinen said. “It’s going to minimize the steps needed to receive that coverage and it’s going to make things cheaper.”
Carleton University health policy professor Marc-André Gagnon said Canada’s health-care system has been behind on the global stage when it comes to drug coverage.
“We’re the only country with universal health care that does not include prescription drugs, as if these medications are not an essential service,” Gagnon said.
Gagnon said he believes pharmacare legislation is a good start toward breaking down barriers to accessing essential medication.
The legislation is an important move to improve Canada’s health-care system, said Yasir Naqvi, MP for Ottawa Centre. Naqvi is the parliamentary secretary to the minister of health.
“We’re really making sure that we’re filling the gaps in our health-care system by bringing pharmacare into the fold of a publicly accessible health-care system for all Canadians,” Naqvi said.
Fourth-year architecture student Carter Colenutt has Type 1 diabetes and has relied on a continuous supply of insulin since the age of eight. He said the legislation is a step in the right direction, but he worries the program lacks clarity and does not go far enough to have a meaningful impact.
“It feels very half-baked, by saying they are doing this pharmacare program but then they are only covering some medications for some situations for some people,” he said.
Colenutt also said he has doubts about the program’s future, with the possibility that a federal election could be called at a moment’s notice.
“I’m skeptical of how far the coverage will go given the current government and especially if — or really when — the Conservatives form government,” Colenutt said. “I’m not overly optimistic right now.”
Conservative MPs voted against the pharmacare bill last spring and Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said in September his party rejects a national pharmacare plan.
Beyond free access to select medications, fifth-year global and international studies student Hannah Zamiska said the new legislation signals progress for women’s rights in Canada.
Zamiska is Indigenous, and receives coverage from the federal non-insured health benefits program, which provides medical coverage for Indigenous people not covered by other health insurance plans.
“[Pharmacare is] good for women’s rights obviously, because the consequences of an unwanted pregnancy are mostly borne by women,” Zamiska said.
Naqvi said increasing the freedom and agency of young women is a key element of the program.
Young women often rely on their parents’ health plan to get contraceptives, which can be an uncomfortable topic to discuss, Naqvi said.
“We have heard from many young women and gender-diverse people that they are not comfortable speaking to their parents about covering contraceptives on their behalf,” Naqvi said. “We are breaking significant barriers, not only from a perspective of income but also from a perspective of independence.”
Accessibility needs to be a focus of pharmacare’s implementation, Zamiska said.
“It’s all well for things to be free but they need to be accessible for people to actually use,” she said.
According to the most recent federal budget, the first stage of the national pharmacare program would cost $1.5 billion over five years, beginning in the 2024-2025 fiscal year.
Talks to create pharmacare agreements have already begun with Canada’s 13 provinces and territories, Naqvi said. He added that he is optimistic provincial leaders will put their political differences aside to make pharmacare a reality.
Provincial governments in Quebec and Alberta have said they intend to opt out of the national program. The Alberta government has said it wants Ottawa to give the province per-capita funding for its existing medication coverage programs, while the Quebec government has said the legislation interferes with its provincial jurisdiction.
On the other hand, British Columbia has already reached a memorandum of understanding with the federal government to get pharmacare off the ground and running in the near future.
Pharmacare negotiations with Ontario are still ongoing.
*Aiden Kallioinen has contributed to the Charlatan.
Featured graphic by Alisha Velji.
