The City of Burnaby is throwing its support behind a national pharmacare strategy.
At its meeting Monday night, council adopted a resolution that makes the case for expanding the country’s universal public health care system to include the cost of prescription medicines.
“When it comes to pharmaceuticals, we follow the American model and you have to have private insurance for it,” Coun. Colleen Jordan said. “People are going, ‘Why? That doesn’t make sense.’”
More than three million Canadians don’t take drugs prescribed by their doctors because they can’t afford them, according to the resolution. Canada, meanwhile, is the only country with a national medicare program that does not have a national pharmacare program.
Studies show by creating a national pharmacare strategy, it would lower costs to businesses by about $8 billion per year, the resolution read.
“That’s pretty significant. It’ll cost government a lot of money but insurance companies wouldn’t make a profit anymore,” Jordan added.
By adopting this resolution, the city will now work with the Union of B.C. Municipalities to urge the province to work with its neighbours and the federal government to develop a national pharmacare program.
Jordan remains confident such a strategy will eventually be developed.
“Like all things, it needs to get to the top of the agenda,” she said.
