Error notice: We published the Health Coalition of Canada/Canadian Labour Congress Call for Action on Pharmacare to all newsletter subscribers. Note that this should have been in the Participate section of our website, where you will find it now.

To clarify CCSN’s position on Pharmacare, here is the executive summary of A Pharmacare Vision Based on the Healthcare Needs of Patients: CCSN Brief to the Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare.

CCSN’s entire submission can be found at https://survivornet.ca/act/pharmacare/a-pharmacare-vision-based-on-the-healthcare-needs-of-patients/
.

Executive Summary

Canada is the only country in the world with a publicly funded healthcare system that does not include access to prescription medicines. Access to prescription medicines and/or therapies – Pharmacare for short – affects all Canadians.
There are two main issues that Pharmacare must address: the uninsured (coverage gap issue) and the underinsured (formulary-based issue).

Public drug plans are only available for specific populations. Those that are not eligible for these plans do not have coverage at all unless they are provided by their employer (if they are employed) or purchased through a private insurance company. With the exception of Ontario, children to those aged 64 years old do not have any form of unconditional coverage.
Often private drug plans have premiums that are increasingly more costly with yearly maximums decreasing and formularies that become restrictive or unavailable, especially when an employer discovers that its employee(s) have a chronic illness or rare disease.

For Canadians who are underinsured, the lack of access to medically necessary therapies has resulted in out-of-pocket expenses and non-adherence to prescription medicines. Canadians are either skipping their doses, reducing them, or not taking them at all. Statistics report that about one in ten Canadians are not filling their prescriptions due to cost, equating to nearly one in four Canadian households.(1)

 

Some provincial governments across Canada are forcing patients with serious medical conditions to switch their medication to one that is similar but not the same, putting patients’ health and safety at risk.

Patients with diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and other serious conditions are being forced by the government in British Columbia to switch from their current, stable biologic medication to a biosimilar drug. Patients with these serious conditions know the time it takes to stabilize their lives and conditions on medication that works. The government is now throwing them into uncertainty and risking their health by forcing this switch.

Patients and their physicians should be solely responsible for making serious decisions about their health and medical treatment.

Forcing patients to switch to a biosimilar medication, which is not the same as their original biologic treatment, can cause additional side effects, putting them in danger. The government has no place in forcing patients to put their health and wellbeing at risk.

Why is this happening?

The government in British Columbia is forcing patients to switch from medications that are working for them, claiming cost savings. However, manufacturers have committed to government providers that they will cover the cost differences between their original biologics and biosimilar treatments in order to maintain continuity of care for patients.

On December 5, 2019, Canadian Cancer Survivor Network hosted its fifth Ontario All-party Cancer Caucus at Queen’s Park. The cancer rehabilitation series focused on cancer survivor rehabilitation and cancer pain management, and featured an in-depth conversation on cancer rehabilitative services in Ontario, and treating chronic patient pain in today’s healthcare.

MPPs, experts on cancer pain management and rehabilitation, cancer survivors, and caregivers all took part in sharing their perspectives on the topics.