Reach Out to Your Local MP About Universal Pharmacare

A private members bill - Bill C-213, the Canada Pharmacare Act - was tabled by the federal NDP in February 2020. The Canada Pharmacare Act is proposed federal legislation aimed at establishing a universal, single-payer, comprehensive and public pharmacare plan that will deliver better healthcare and improve the health and lives of millions of Canadians.

BCNU is asking members to join nurses across Canada as well as over 175 national, provincial, and territorial organizations calling on the government to implement pharmacare. To review a complete list of the national and provincial organizations signed on to support universal pharmacare, including BCNU, click here.

Take Action

BCNU encourages all members to support policies that impact our fellow members, our profession, and our communities. To show your support, please consider taking the following actions:

• Join Peter Julian, NDP MP for New Westminster-Burnaby (sponsor of Bill C-213) by:
  • signing a petition,
  • emailing your local MP, or
  • joining in a virtual eRally on January 28.
• Send a message to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Minister of Health Patty Hajdu and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland asking them to support the adoption of a universal, single-payer national pharmacare program.

Background

For years, nurses have been calling on Ottawa to expand the medicare umbrella to include prescription drugs. As caregivers, nurses often see first-hand the consequences of not having a national pharmacare program: sicker Canadians and wasted health-care dollars.

Canada is the only developed country in the world with a universal health-care program that does not include a universal prescription drug plan. Some 20 percent of Canadians lack adequate drug coverage and one in four households cannot afford their prescription medications.

Universal pharmacare will extend prescription drug coverage to every single Canadian while saving the public billions every year. It will allow millions of Canadians who are struggling to pay for medication to receive the support they desperately need.

The new federal legislation is based on the recommendations of the Hoskins Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare and modelled on the Canada Health Act. A report from the Hoskins Advisory Council found that once fully implemented, universal pharmacare will reduce annual system-wide spending on prescription drugs by $5 billion.

The first vote on the legislation will be held in February 2021.