Right now, in most provinces across Canada, any medication needed by people is paid for out of pocket, if not covered by insurance.
But that may not be true in the near future.
On Thursday, February 29th, the federal MP’s proposed a new bill which received its first reading that would have the Canadian government pay for all contraception and diabetes medication across the country.
These are two things that cost people $200 to $1,500 respectively, per year.
All NDP MPs representing areas in Greater Victoria voiced their support for the bill after it had been brought forward, one being Victoria’s Laurel Collins.
“Parents with kids with diabetes who are struggling, it is community members who have been living their whole lives with diabetes and now facing the skyrocketing cost-of-living—they’re paying hundreds of dollars per month for technology and devices,” Collins told Victoria Buzz.
“It’s going to be life-changing.”
She says that already, she’s had constituents come to her and tell her how much they pay and what they’ll be able to save, should this bill be made into legislation.
As for the contraception part of the proposed bill, in provinces like BC, where the government has already committed to paying for free contraception, Collins says that the Province will simply take over these payments, freeing up significant funds for other health care initiatives.
Now that the first reading, or tabling, of the pharmacare bill has taken place, its next steps are to have its second reading, going to committee, the third reading and finally, the senate.
During the second reading, the House of Commons will have the chance to debate the pharmacare bill. If it gets through that phase, the committee assigned to it takes it over and provides amendments. Third reading is where it is either greenlit or not.
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Collins says she is hopeful this will get through quickly and easily, but also noted that the Conservatives and the Liberals have been vehemently against it in the past.
“This is something New Democrats have been fighting for since, well, before Tommy Douglas’ time,” said Collins.
Alistair MacGregor, NDP MP for Cowichan-Malahat-Langford said the Liberals have promised this time and time again, but have never followed through.
“For three decades, the Liberals have promised pharmacare, and they’ve spent that same amount of time going back on their word,” said MacGregor.
“But while the Liberals drag their feet, New Democrats have gotten to work and are delivering the biggest expansion to universal health care in fifty years so that you can get the medication you need without worrying about the cost.”
Meanwhile, Randall Garrison, NDP MP for Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke noted that a pharmacare plan like the one proposed by his party has been an unfulfilled promise from the Liberals since 1997.
“While the Liberals drag their feet, the Conservatives have used every tool at their disposal to stop pharmacare from happening,” said Garrison.
“With both the Liberals and Conservatives, British Columbians spend more and get less – but New Democrats are delivering real solutions to keep you and your families healthy, without spending a dime.”
Right now, Collins told Victoria Buzz it’s hard to predict the timeline on this bill becoming a reality, but she is hopeful it will come to fruition for all women and gender-diverse people as well as diabetics and parents of diabetics.
