Advocates in Manitoba hoping for national pharmacare plan to be implemented soon

While a national pharmacare plan to cover the cost of contraceptives and diabetes medication is being welcomed, advocates here in Manitoba are hoping the plan is comprehensive and arrives soon.

CityNews learned last week that the federal Liberals and NDP have reached a deal that would see any Canadian with a health card receive free diabetes and birth control medication.

Kemlin Nembhard at the Women’s Health Clinic says while she’s happy to see the federal government move to cover the costs of contraceptives, she is hoping that access to them is truly universal.

“It would be fabulous to have them available at pharmacies, that’s one way and makes a lot of sense for many people. But we also need to make sure that they are available for people through clinics as well. Having to have a prescription and getting that filled is not accessible for everybody,” said Nembhard.

The current Manitoba NDP government previously pledged to cover the cost of prescription contraceptives.

In a statement to CityNews on whether it plans to move forward with the pledge given news the federal government is looking to do something similar, the province said, “Our government campaigned on free birth control for every Manitoban, and we remain committed to making it happen. Once federal legislation is introduced and passes, we’ll review it to understand how it impacts Manitoba families.”

Molly McCracken, the director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives in Manitoba siad she hopes, “Manitoba keeps expanding services, so they don’t just let the federal money backfill the Manitoba money.”

Adding, “Prescription medication is not a luxury item; it is a necessity. Many people aren’t covered any other way.”

While pharmacists are welcoming the news that more people who may not have drug coverage soon would be able to get some form of it, there are still concerns on the rollout of the program.

“The reality is there is finite public dollars for these drug plans. There may be opportunities to cover a wider number of drugs for a targeted number of people rather than moving people who already have coverage from private plans to public,” said Joelle Walker, vice president of public and professional affairs with the Canadian Pharmacists Association.

Tim Smith, pharmacy practice advisor with Pharmacists Manitoba adds, “Equity of access, the coverage of benefiting the people who need it the most. Timeliness of access, operationally what is this going to look like for people who receive medication and what would be the impacts of manufacturers releasing new drugs in the Canadian market. The affordability of this program, it has to be affordable from the taxpayer’s perspective. Finally, the sustainability of the program, from both an operational and fiscal sense, can this last the test of time.”

As the federal government moves on covering the costs of contraceptives and diabetes medication universally, calls still remain for the feds to expand the program to cover all pharmaceutical drugs.

“We do need the rest of the plan to come very soon,” said McCracken.