Putting National Pharmacare on the Federal Agenda: Creation of an Advisory Council

Abstract

In June 2018, the Federal Government of Canada created an Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare, scheduled to report one year later on the best strategy to implement such a program and give Canadians access to affordable prescription drugs outside of the hospital. The current state of coverage through employer-sponsored plans and public plans conditional on income and age is increasingly perceived as unfair and inefficient. The Council used a mixture of expert consultations, an online survey and discussion forums for the general public to explore three options: a universal public plan, a catastrophic spending plan, or a patching of current coverage to include the non-covered. Creating such a Council was seen by the government as a solution for navigating a complex policy problem with difficult federal-provincial dimensions.

Keywords

• Pharmacare
• insurance coverage
• consultation
• access