Thoughts on BC Politics and More

The British Columbia and federal governments have signed a four-year, $670-million pharmacare agreement, giving universal access to contraceptive and diabetes medications. “Through this historic agreement, BC residents will receive public coverage for a range of contraceptives and diabetes medications at little to no cost,” the federal government said in a statement ... CLICK HERE for the full story

A confidential investigation by British Columbia’s Ministry of Health, Financial Operations and Audit Branch has uncovered explosive allegations of fraud, abuse, and organized crime infiltration within PharmaCare’s prescribed opioid alternatives program. Internal audit findings, obtained by The Bureau , suggest that millions of taxpayer dollars are being diverted into illicit drug trafficking networks rather than serving harm reduction efforts. The leaked documents include photographs from vehicle searches that show collections of fentanyl patches and Dilaudid (hydromorphone) apparently packaged for resale after being stolen from the taxpayer-funded “safer supply” program ... CLICK HERE for the full story

  Bill C-64 seems to create the illusion of establishing a national pharma care program. This allows the Liberals and NDP to claim political cover. Last week, I talked about the ongoing partnership between the Liberal Government and NDP. They have introduced a new bill that they claim would create a national pharma-care program that would be managed by the federal government. I ended my report with the following question: "Do you already have Pharmacare coverage? If so, are you satisfied with your current Pharmacare coverage, or do you believe a federal Pharmacare plan would benefit you? Why or why not?" I'm thankful to everyone who took the time to give detailed responses to this question as it helps me better understand the views of those I represent. When I wrote the report last week, the details of the claimed national pharmacare plan from the Liberal/NDP partnership weren't out yet. Late last week, the Trudeau Liberal government introduced Bill C...

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  

... Much more needs to be done to improve the training and retention of caregivers. But these are at least important first steps. As ever, though, there is bad news as well. Canada’s Parliamentary Budget Officer now says implementing a national Pharmacare plan of the sort promised by the federal Liberals will cost the country an additional $11.2 billion in the first year, rising to $13.4 billion in year four ... CLICK HERE for the full story

... NDP members drew a line in the sand by passing an emergency resolution at their policy convention in Hamilton this weekend that says the party should withdraw its support if the Liberals do not commit to “a universal, comprehensive and entirely public pharmacare program.” The New Democratic Party’s national director, Anne McGrath, said getting a bill that has teeth will be her party’s biggest priority as parliamentarians return to the House of Commons this week. And that if the NDP ends up walking away from the deal over the issue, she said in an interview on Sunday, then: “Pharmacare will be a ballot-box issue. Absolutely, it will be" ... 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

MONTREAL —Quebec’s universal pharmacare system, which relies on both a public plan and private insurance providers , covers more drugs and provides quicker access to new medicines than other Canadian provinces, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non- partisan Canadian public policy think- tank . Last month, a federally -appointed advisory panel ( headed by former Ontario health minister Dr. Eric Hoskins ) released a report calling for a government -run taxpayer - funded national pharmacare program —vastly different from Quebec’s system . “ The Quebec model is p roof that you can have universal —and generous —drug coverage using a mix of public and private insurance ,” said Yanick Labrie, Fraser Institute senior fellow and author of Lessons from the Quebec Universal Prescription Drug Insurance Program . The study find s that Quebec’s public plan provides greater access to prescription drugs than other provinc...

Sorry I’ve been unable to get the top 10 stories of the week out, for the past two weeks – but I’m back today. Let’s get underway with the first of two, from Winnipeg’s John Feldsted ... #10 ... July 10 th FELDSTED: Why would the public place trust in any political party , spending its money, making personal attacks on rival party leaders instead of mapping a plan to deal with our major concerns? #9 ... July 13 th ADAM OLSEN -- Rather than a healthy, vigorous (but healthy) exchange of ideas and solutions, it’s an all-out war of words in a last-ditch effort to win a majority government on election day #8 ... July 13th FELDSTED -- We are tired of carbon emissions nonsense. Less than 40% of industrialized nation are even trying to limit emissions and most are far short of the targets set in Paris in 2015 #7 ... July 8 th Those living in the Metro-Vancouver, lower mainland region, receiving free tickets to symphony concerts ...