Kristy Kirkup, The Canadian Press
Canada's governments have to work together to transform, rather than tinker with, a patchwork of prescription-drug plans to create a public plan for every Canadian, says the chair of the expert panel the federal Liberals named to advise them how to create a national pharmacare system.
The patchwork should be replaced by a pharmacare system much like the public health-care system, with standards set by the federal government and supported by federal funding, but administered by provincial and territorial governments, the panel said in its final report Wednesday. Individuals should still be able to get supplemental drug insurance, either on their own or through workplace benefits programs.
Dr. Eric Hoskins, an Ontario health minister under the previous provincial Liberal government, released his council's findings in Ottawa. The group reported that such a plan will result in savings of an estimated $5 billion annually, an average of $350 a year for each family.