Health Minister Mark Holland tabled a long-awaited bill Thursday meant to pave the way for national pharmacare and preserve a deal that secures the New Democratic Party’s support for the government in the House of Commons. The bill includes a program to cover birth control as well as diabetes drugs and supplies for anyone with […]
Several stakeholders from the benefits sector are partnering to form the Smart Health Benefits Coalition, an advocacy group that aims to strengthen the health-care system and address longstanding gaps in care. The federal government will release the framework for its pharmacare program on March 1 and the coalition — comprised of representatives from Gallagher, Benefits Alliance, GroupHEALTH, Hub International Ltd., […]
In the year ahead, the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association will continue its advocacy efforts to ensure the federal government’s proposed pharmacare plan extends coverage for those who lack benefits without disrupting workplace benefits that millions of working Canadians rely on, says Stephen Frank, the association’s president and chief executive officer. The right approach to […]
Government House leader Karina Gould warned Tuesday the Liberals are unlikely to get a pharmacare bill passed by the end of the year, despite their promise to do so in an agreement with the New Democratic Party. “I don’t think we’re going to get it passed by the end of this year, but we’ll definitely […]
The Parliamentary Budget Office is confirming the insurance industry’s projection that a single-payer model of national pharmacare program will cost $40 billion annually as a result of shifting more than $14 billion in private insurance coverage onto the government’s books. In a new report, the PBO estimated the cost of a single-payer universal drug plan to […]
Ontario’s New Democratic Party’s election platform includes universal dental care, mental-health care and pharmacare. Following the agreement reached between the federal Liberals and NDP in late March, the provincial NDP will lead the way on the program, working with the federal government to “strengthen and accelerate the expansion of dental care,” according to the platform that […]
Amid plans by the federal government to introduce national dental and pharmacare programs, key stakeholders in the private payer health-care sector should highlight the value of private health plans in Canada, according to a panel during a webinar by the Group Insurance Pharmaceutical Committee last week. In March, the Liberal Party and the New Democratic […]