Federal Minister of Health Mark Holland said “fiscal reality” may make it difficult to meet the demand by the NDP to have a pharmacare bill passed through the legislature in eight weeks.
Mr. Holland said meeting the deadline “is going to be challenging,” speaking to reporters on Oct. 17 outside the legislature.
The Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) released a report on Oct. 12, “Cost Estimate of a Single Payer Universal Drug Plan,” which came up with a cost estimate of $11.2 billion in the first year, 2024–25. The PBO estimated the second-year cost would increase to $14.4 billion, in 2027. The PBO said it would cost the public payer more, but there would be “economy-wide savings” on drug expenses that could be $1.4 billion in 2024–25.
Under a 2022 supply-and-confidence agreement with the NDP, cabinet promised to pass a pharmacare bill by Christmas 2023 as a condition of avoiding a snap election, according to Blacklocks’ Reporter on Oct. 17.
At a recent policy convention, the NDP passed an emergency resolution calling on the party to withdraw from its agreement to work with the Liberals, if the government does not implement a universal, public pharmacare program.“There are hard conversations not only that are being had with New Democrats as the Supply And Confidence partners but with all parliamentarians, with stakeholders, about what is the art of possible here,” said Mr. Holland. “That’s complicated.”
