First pharmacare deal is coming soon: Health Minister
Mark Holland says he's been meeting with provinces 'more intensely'
Health Minister Mark Holland says the federal government will soon announce a deal with the first Canadian province to join the federal pharmacare system.
"There's a couple of areas where I'm going to finally have some good news. One of them is on pharmacare," Holland told a crowd at the SOS Medicare 3.0 Conference in Ottawa on Monday.
"I can tell you that we're very close to signing the very first pharmacare deal in this country."
Speaking to reporters afterward, Holland said the federal government was close to getting deals with a few provinces, as meetings accelerated "more intensely over the last couple of weeks" to get to the finish line on pharmacare.
Parliament passed legislation last October that laid the foundation for a universal pharmacare plan. The legislation allows the government to strike deals with provinces and territories to cover diabetes and birth-control medications as part of the public health system.
As a first step, the federal government has committed to covering the cost of providing diabetes medications and contraception at $1.5 billion.
Holland said the first few deals are important because they help provinces unsure about a public health insurance program better understand how it would work.
But Holland did not provide a timeline, nor state which provinces would be the early adopters.
"I am not going to comment on the specific jurisdictions; I don't think you will have to wait very long to figure out who we are talking about," he said.
NDP promises family doctors and free virtual care
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh also addressed the medicare conference and announced two planks of his party's 2025 federal election platform.
Singh promised that a New Democrat government would ensure every Canadian has a family doctor.
He also committed to fully funding virtual health-care services like Maple, owned partly by Loblaws, whose memberships start at $79.99 monthly. An NDP government, Singh said, would require the provinces to cover virtual health care.
"That should not be allowed. In Canada, I want to see no cash for care," Singh said. "No money being spent to be able to get the care you need."
Singh also said an NDP government would modernize the Canada Health Act to "crack down" on the loophole that allows corporations to bill Canadians for virtual health care. He also said he would force provinces to fine for-profit health corporations that don't comply.
Singh's promise to provide a family doctor to everyone received some criticism at the conference.
University of Ottawa professor Ivy Bourgeault urged the NDP to reconsider an election promise it could not fulfil.
"Primary care is very important. Mathematically, it is impossible to solve the primary care crisis with physicians alone," Bourgeault told Singh during a Q&A session.
In an interview, Bourgeault told CBC News that many political parties, not just the New Democrats, have this notion that they can promise everyone a family physician.
Bourgeault, who leads the Canadian Health Workforce Network, said those policy commitments disregard the other roles necessary for primary care, including nurse practitioners, registered nurses, dietitians and social workers.
In response to Bourgeault's question, Singh said he supports wrap-around health-care models where family physicians work with nurse practitioners, dietitians, midwives and other health professionals in the same facility.
Singh said as a university student, he worked at a community health centre in Windsor, Ont., that relied on a team that included a dietitian, social worker and nurse practitioners.
"The reason we talk about family doctors is that I think it is something that is accessible to people," Singh said. "But really the solution to our health-care system is utilizing all of these underutilized incredible professionals."