Thoughts on BC Politics and More

Health Minister Mark Holland signalled Tuesday the government is unlikely to meet the end-of-the-year deadline imposed by the NDP for passing pharmacare legislation — a condition of the supply-and-confidence agreement that was struck to keep the Liberals in power until 2025. Holland said talks are ongoing with NDP MP Don Davies, the party's health critic, who has been working with the government to craft legislation to implement some sort of national drug coverage plan. Davies also suggested the long-awaited bill may not materialize by year's end ... CLICK HERE for the full story  

As lobby groups argue against a universal drug coverage plan, here’s a fact-check   Health Minister Mark Holland announced in August that the federal government intends to introduce pharmacare legislation in the fall. Now the battle lines are being drawn. One of the many virtues of pharmacare — a universal drug coverage plan — is that there will be a single bargaining agent looking for lower prices from the drug companies. Australia has a single buyer and has brand-name prices that are on average 29 per cent lower than Canada’s. That difference on Canadian annual sales of $17.4 billion translates into savings of about $5 billion. Pharmaceutical and insurance industries that stand to lose profit through lower drug prices are not happy about pharmacare. They are speaking out and mobilizing their allies ... CLICK HERE for the full story

  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's new health minister says legislation to implement a universal pharmacare program will be tabled this fall.   Passing legislation to establish a national universal pharmacare program by the end of the year is a condition of the House of Commons supply-and-confidence agreement between the Liberals and the NDP.   To meet that deadline, the government's legislation will need to pass through the House of Commons and the Senate and undergo two committee studies before Parliament breaks in December ...   CLICK HERE for the full story