Premier Dwight Ball is leading a discussion today on a national pharmacare program at the Council of the Federation gathering in Saskatoon.
Ball is joining premiers and territorial leaders from across the country in what are the last meetings ahead of the fall federal election. He says he wants to make sure a national pharmacare program gets on the federal agenda.
He says they will be sending a letter to federal leaders, making sure they get feedback on their plans for pharmacare.
Ball says Canada is the only G7 country that has universal medical care, but not a pharamcare program. He says the discussion is long overdue, and it’s one he looks forward to leading.
But, can the province afford it? Ball says not to worry as they want to ensure the federal government pays for it. He says that’s just one thing that needs to be considered, as people are now dealing with new, and very expensive drugs, making it difficult to afford this type of care.
Ball says one of the recommendations that came from the Hoskins report is that the federal government will deal with costs.
He says his job, along with the other Premier’s is to make sure when the feds get involved, they do so for the long-term and ensure that province’s are not worse-off because of a national pharmacare program.
Meanwhile, Presidents of Federations of Labour from all across the country are pushing for the program.
The presidents are in Saskatoon as well, for meetings and encouraging Premier’s to embrace a public, single-payer, universal pharmacare program.
President of the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour, Mary Shortall says there are all kinds of reasons why the universal program is needed. She says a report from the Advisory Council itself said governments buying economies of scale and being able to purchase these drugs nationally would save the country and economy upwards of 11-billion dollars a year.
Shortall says the only barrier is political will, and provincial governments understand and support their move, but they want to make sure it’s done consistently and right, while not costing them more than they can afford. She says Premier Ball is very supportive, but like other province’s needs to see what commitment the federal government will make and how it will all work.
Atlantic Canada has a high-rate of people who cannot afford to pay for their pharmacare needs.
She says there is a real need in the province, just like there is right across the country.
Shortall says even a minimal fee for many people is prohibitive and they need to make a decision of whether to take their drugs or not.