It Won’t Be Easy: How to Make Universal Pharmacare Work in Canada

Document Type : Perspective

Author

1 Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada

2 University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada

Abstract

One of the glaring gaps in Canada’s universal healthcare system is the low level of public financing of prescription drugs - 42.7% of total spending in 2018. At the federal level there is renewed interest in moving towards universal coverage, supported by a recently commissioned report on how to achieve it. It will take superb political navigation to extract Canadian pharmaceutical policy and practice from the grasp of interests that profit handsomely from the status quo. This perspective suggests the conditions under which a genuinely fair, effective, and efficient pharmacare plan can emerge.

Highlights

Commentaries Published on this Paper and Hajizadeh & Edmonds Paper

 

  •  National Pharmacare in Canada: Equality or Equity, Accessibility or Affordability; Comment on “Universal Pharmacare in Canada: A Prescription for Equity in Healthcare”

            Abstract | PDF

 

  •  It’s Time to Finally Kill the Zombies; Comment on “Universal Pharmacare in Canada”

             Abstract | PDF

 

  • The Challenges of Canadian Pharmacare Are More Complicated Than Acknowledged; Comment on “Pharmacare in Canada”

            Abstract | PDF

 

  • Separated at Birth: The Politics of Pharmacare for All in Canada and Medicare for All in the United States; Comment on “Universal Pharmacare in Canada"

          Abstract | PDF

 

  • Understanding the Battle for Universal Pharmacare in Canada; Comment on “Universal Pharmacare in Canada”

          Abstract | PDF

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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International Journal of Health Policy and Management
Volume 9, Issue 1
January 2020
Pages 1-5

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History

  • Receive Date: 04 September 2019
  • Revise Date: 26 September 2019
  • Accept Date: 28 September 2019
  • First Publish Date: 01 January 2020

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