I’m writing to say that a universal, single-payer, public Pharmacare program is long overdue.
Canada’s patchwork system of prescription drug coverage is unfair, expensive, and leaves too many people behind. Coverage varies from person to person and from province to province. We pay some of the highest drug prices in the world.
Approximately 20 per cent of Canadians have inadequate coverage or no coverage at all. My mother is one of those people. She’s a type 1 diabetic who works in the retail sector for minimum wage and the employer doesn’t offer an insurance plan. She pays the full cost out of pocket and is forced to stretch things by reusing supplies, skipping doses and testing. We constantly worry about her health and can’t understand why Canadians don’t have equal access to medication like we do for hospitals and doctors.
The time for a universal, single-payer, public pharmacare program is long overdue. We’re heading into a federal election in a few months. I’ll be voting for a party that promises to deliver a universal pharmacare plan for all Canadians.
Karl Crosby
Penticton