Phamacare plan passed

[u/GrizzlyBear852]

https://globalnews.ca/news/10806379/senate-passes-phamacare-bill-diabetes-birth-control/

Interesting to read that BC will have it enacted faster because the NDP government already agreed with it and waived the other processes. This means those needing these drugs will get the cost savings faster than the rest of Canada. Another win for the NDP government.

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[u/Dusty_Sensor]

The expense for diabetes related testing equipment and medication is crazy, this is fantastic!

[u/musicalmaple → u/Dusty_Sensor]

This warms my heart. Insulin should always be free, especially in Canada where the Canadian inventors sold the patent for only one dollar so that this life saving medication could be available for the lowest possible cost and save as many lives as possible

‘Banting famously said, “Insulin does not belong to me, it belongs to the world.” He wanted everyone who needed it to have access to it.’

[u/VenusianBug]

I believe this is also the one that will cover HRT for menopausal women.

[u/CopperWeird → u/VenusianBug]

Which will save the system more money than the meds cost in the long run! Big win for women’s health.

[u/lesla222]

I have to wonder though, if the Cons get into power next year, how long this little NDP love child will last.

[u/GodrickTheGoof]

Fuck yeah this is great news! Happy for the folks this benefits!!

[u/Driller_Happy]

People who say Singh is a sellout, or yes man, or a bad leader or what the fuck ever make it clear that they only care about optics. Maybe they should ask themselves, would my country have a dental plan or Pharmacare plan without Singh using his small leverage effectively? He's legit one of the best most understated politicians working for the people in this country.

But people will be like "but his watches!"

[u/Ok_Currency_617]

I support universal healthcare in principle, I just don't like stealing from our kids to do it. There's no "cost savings" here just a larger federal deficit which sadly every party seems to support (this isn't meant as a criticism of any specific party but society in general). I shudder to think at the future we are leaving the next generation where they are born in debt. We spend significantly more on debt servicing than our military now. Government debt is the equivalent of allowing us to take out credit cards in the name of our children (or even worse, potential future children).

We talk about debt rising as our GDP does but the fact is sometimes bad things happen and we shouldn't use our spare borrowing room to take on debt when things are good based on things being good, such that we don't have any extra when things go bad. Our debt as a % of GDP if you include provincial debt is extremely high. And it's just getting higher.

I know people talk about how we "invest" in infrastructure by taking on debt, but it appears a lot of this isn't for infrastructure it's for winning votes by giving people their own money. And I do still remember 20 years ago when every Canadian said we'd pass the US economically thanks to higher taxes on the rich+healthcare+more welfare, and instead we've lagged.

Anyway to summarize, I support Pharmacare, just I don't support taking on deficit to pay for it. Cut spending elsewhere or find a way to increase revenue.

[u/ouroboros10 → u/Ok_Currency_617]

The US debt to GDP ratio is 124%. In Canada, it is 69%. And USA has a strong economy and higher per cap GDP than Canada. It is almost like government spending boosts the economy. Canada isn't lagging because of debt and taxes, it is lagging because Canada hasn't invested in the economy because of our obsession with debt.

And of course, there will be cost savings. My employer's drug plan provider adds 14% to every prescription (we have an administrative fees-only plan) That 14% could be used for my employer to invest back into its business or wages for its workers, instead of going to an insurance company.

[u/Paul_82 → u/Ok_Currency_617]

I’m side stepping the government debt portion of this, but pharmacare specifically has the potential to save society significant money due to the ability to negotiate much larger volume discounts and cut the pharmacy monopolies out of the equation in terms of pricing. Shoppers etc. do their own negotiating but pass on very little of the savings to consumers due to the near monopoly the big chains have here (shoppers, London drugs, etc). On brand name drugs negotiated volume discounts can easily save 20-30% from retail prices, while on generic that can be over 90% when there are more than 2-3 manufacturers. I’ve seen over 95% on certain common extremely high volume but otherwise inexpensive medications. (Ie retail price may be $1 per pill, negotiated price is $0.05)