The federal Liberals will ask a group of advisers, led by OntarioB次元官网网址檚 former health minister, to explore options for a national program to cover the cost of prescription drugs and report back in 2019 B次元官网网址� ensuring pharmacare becomes a key election campaign issue.
The measure forms a part of a trinity of major drug initiatives in , the other two being a $231-million package of steps that aims to confront CanadaB次元官网网址檚 escalating opioid crisis, including $150 million in emergency funding, and tax changes for cannabis-based pharmaceuticals.
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Former Ontario health minister Eric Hoskins will head up an advisory council to come up with options on how to create a national pharmacare program B次元官网网址� a program that the parliamentary budget watchdog has warned could cost $19 billion a year.
The work will include consulting with provinces, territories and Indigenous groups about what drugs should be included, and the costs involved for B次元官网网址渨hatever model that we choose,B次元官网网址� Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor said after the budget speech with Hoskins at her side.
Hoskins wonB次元官网网址檛 have to deliver a final report until the spring of 2019, setting the stage for the Liberals to make pharmacare a centrepiece of the partyB次元官网网址檚 election campaign and take a key talking point away from NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh.
Following Finance Minister Bill MorneauB次元官网网址檚 speech, Singh seemed unfazed by the prospect, noting that the Liberals were only promising to examine the issue. He even dared the government to steal his partyB次元官网网址檚 proposal and implement a national pharmacare plan.
B次元官网网址淲hat the government is proposing is not a plan. This is a fantasy,B次元官网网址� Singh said. B次元官网网址淲e want to introduce a program now.B次元官网网址�
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer said B次元官网网址淐anadians should brace themselvesB次元官网网址� about what might come, because a former Ontario Liberal cabinet minister shouldnB次元官网网址檛 be trusted to craft B次元官网网址渁ny kind of plan, never mind one in the health care field.B次元官网网址�
In the meantime, the Liberals say they wonB次元官网网址檛 apply new sales taxes to cannabis-based pharmaceutical products that can be obtained with a prescription.
Nor will taxes be applied to oils that contain low amounts of THC, the primary psychoactive element in marijuana, that are used by children with certain medical conditions.
But those medications represent a minority of those used by patients, according to one group. Canadians for Access to Medical Marijuana also questioned the wording behind a budget promise to consider retroactively reimbursing patients an unspecified amount for taxes already paid on cannabis-based pharmaceuticals.
B次元官网网址淓xempting a small minority of patients does not address the affordability issue and implies some patients are more legitimate than others. Looking into a reimbursement program implies patients can afford to pay for their medicine in the first instance. They canB次元官网网址檛,B次元官网网址� director Jonathan Zaid said in a statement.
The Opposition Conservatives have chided the government for moving too fast on legal pot, suggesting there are outstanding public safety issues that need to be addressed.
The budget outlines $62.5 million over five years beginning this year for public education programs around cannabis use, and a further $20 million over five years for research by the Mental Health Commission of Canada and the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction.
The Liberals are also spending $80.5 million over five years starting this year to reduce tobacco use, particularly in Indigenous communities, and raising taxes on cigarettes by $1 per carton.
On opioids, provinces and territories will receive $150 million in emergency funding this year to deal with a crisis that is projected to claim more than 4,000 lives this year.
The balance of the $231.4 million will go towards public education campaigns, better access to public health data and new equipment and tools to allow border agents to better detect dangerous opioids like fentanyl before they enter the country.
B次元官网网址� With files from Geordon Omand and Lee Berthiaume
Jordan Press, The Canadian Press
