NDP MP representing the riding of Regina-Lewvan Erin Weir
Two of the strongest critics of the federal government made a stop in the Saskatchewan capital to discuss Pharmacare.
NDP MP’s Erin Weir and health critic Don Davies stopped by a Regina seniors centre on Saturday afternoon to discuss the merits and overall benefits to a national Pharmacare strategy in conjunction with Canada’s single payer health care system.
He says the fact we have a universal system which doesn’t include prescription drug coverage is something which needs to be changed.
“If you go to hospital and need drugs as part of your treatment, that’s covered,” he said. “But as soon as you are sent home, if you need prescription drugs, they’re not covered.”
“It’s very expensive and many Canadians can’t get the medication they need.”
Pharmacare was a noticeable issue the Trudeau government addressed in their budget.
However, Weir says instead of talking the talk about Pharmacare, they need to get on with walking the walk, because due to the price of some medications, some Canadians are having to make some incredibly difficult choices.
“They have to make these impossible choices between filling their fridge or filling their fridge,” he said. “We shouldn’t have people depriving themselves of health care because of cost.”
Vancouver-Kingsway MP and NDP Health Critic Don Davies
These sentiments were echoed by Don Davies, who said not only is a national Pharmacare strategy possible and fairly simple to implement, it’s financially rewarding.
“It’s not only feasible, but it’s also absolutely necessary and desirable,” said Davies. “The upshot of the PBO report (Parliamentary Budget Office) confirmed what every other research study has shown, which is we could cover every single Canadian in this country with universal pharmacare and save billions of dollars every year.”
