New Brunswick is just one province currently in the midst of assessing their willingness to sign a pharmacare accord with the federal government. Alberta’s Heath Minister John Dornan acknowledged that the province is still assessing the costs of rolling out the program. The lessons learned are still being assessed. The Canadian Healthcare Coalition has been lobbying hard for New Brunswick to follow the lead of other provinces and sign on to a pharmacare agreement.
New Brunswick’s drug plan has indexed annual premiums that range from $60 to $2,700 depending on income. In addition, co-pays are the responsibility of enrollees. The first stage of pharmacare would see new coverage extended to all contraceptives and choose diabetes medications. Only four provinces and territories—Manitoba, British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, and Yukon—have signed on to pharmacare promise. As such, these regions have already locked down nearly 60% of all the available funding.
The federal budget for 2024 indicated they would invest a total of $1.5 billion in pharmacare over the next five years. No additional money has been provided for this crucial program. Fears are growing that New Brunswick could lose out on essential federal funding if agreement on a deal isn’t reached in short order.
Minister Dornan stressed that the provincial government is serious about negotiating with the federal government.
“We have not walked away from negotiations,” – Health Minister John Dornan
Despite this assurance, Jean-Claude Basque from the Canadian Healthcare Coalition expressed concern regarding the lack of cost estimates for the pharmacare program.
“They should have that information; they knew pharmacare was coming, the department knew about it,” – Jean-Claude Basque
Additionally, Basque emphasized the need to create these estimates, especially considering that a year has gone by since talks started.
“It’s really worrisome that after 12 months they don’t know how much it would cost them,” – Jean-Claude Basque
New Brunswick is particularly focused on determining the costs associated with including diabetic pills, contraception, and potentially other medications in its pharmacare plan. Green MLA Megan Mitton has voiced worries that delays in reaching an agreement could result in lost opportunities for funding.
“If they’ve missed the chance then that is an extreme failure to secure pharmacare for the people of New Brunswick,” – Green MLA Megan Mitton
New Brunswick is still handily debating the pharmacare deal. All stakeholders are encouraged by the prospect of a quick agreement, enabling state residents to quickly enjoy the benefits of this important new healthcare initiative. On this front, the Prime Minister has repeated his government’s desire to strike deals with each province and territory on pharmacare. New Brunswick must move fast. All eyes are now on the province, which has a limited time to decide its next moves and weigh the ramifications of its choices.
