Pharmacare, Canadian Perspectives Magazine, Autumn 2022

funneled billions of dollars into lobbying campaigns in support of a “fill in the gaps” approach that combines both public and private Months later, the specifics of the agreement remain fuzzy. [...] In his 2020 Throne Speech, the Prime Minister promised to “accelerate” For the pharma lobby, that means pulling out all the stops to prevent progress on pharmacare but then committed no new spending in a public pharmacare plan from ever being realized. [...] “A national pharmacare program must build on the strengths of our current dual-market system and focus on improving access for The new deal with the NDP continues that tradition, including only a the Canadians who need it most: the uninsured and underinsured,” “pharmacare pantomime,” as Dr. [...] The real barometer of success, then, is not the March announcement, In non-lobby speak, that means: keep our current patchwork system but whether or not the Liberals can turn this political dance into while throwing a few bones to people who’ve fallen through the cracks, an actual race to the finish line: a universal, single-payer, public, but don’t touch drug prices (or Big Pharma profits). [...] Critically, the Liberal-NDP agreement is mum on whether the Turning pharmacare from political gimmick to reality will depend, pharmacare program in the works will be a public one.