NDP’s Singh questions provinces mulling pharmacare opt-out
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he believes provinces voicing plans to opt out of a national pharmacare plan will likely opt in eventually, noting similar sentiments were seen when universal health care became law in Canada.
“What happened was provinces had universal health care in some places, and people said, ‘Well, we’re getting our coverage,’ and then people said, ‘Well, why aren’t we getting our coverage,'” he told reporters Monday.
His comments came one day after Alberta Health Minister Adriana LaGrange wrote in an email to Global News that if the federal government pursues a national pharmacare program, the province intends to opt out and would seek a per-capita share of the funding.
A spokesperson from her office said Alberta was not consulted on the national pharmacare plan, “and there are limitations in the initial analysis and assumptions, including start-up investment and administrative costs to implement a cost-sharing model, that were not taken into consideration that add costs for the provinces.”
The spokesperson said the vast majority of Albertans have access to contraceptives through employer or government health care insurance plans.
However, Dr. Rupindeer Toor told Global News not all programs are available to residents and can be patchy and difficult to access.
Ontario provides many contraceptives for people under the age of 25 who don’t have private insurance. Manitoba’s government has already pledged to do so as well.
The New Democrats said birth control coverage will help millions of women and gender-diverse people.
Singh questioned the move, saying Premier Danielle Smith could face questions if the province moved forward with its decision to opt out.
“I think it will be very difficult for the
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