Ottawa says pharmacare is coming — here’s what you need to know – CBC

The new federal budget includes $1.5B to cover diabetes, contraception drugs

Apr 26, 2024

The federal government’s latest budget sets aside $1.5 billion to implement pharmacare — a major financial commitment with the potential for a wide-ranging impact on the country’s health-care system.

The program, long demanded by the government’s supply-and-confidence partners in the NDP, will start small by covering just two categories of drugs.

For the program to get off the ground, the provinces and territories also will have to be on board.

Ottawa has made a commitment to expand pharmacare — it’s standing up a panel of experts to provide advice on how best to implement a universal, single-payer program sometime in the future.

CBC News has received a number of questions about the program. Here are some answers.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/pharmacare-explainer-1.7185304