The federal Liberal government and the NDP have come to an agreement on pharmacare, clearing the way for the two parties to continue operating under the confidence-and-supply agreement that has helped keep the government in power over the last two years.
I like the word universal. Let’s see how universal it is.
I think it’s fair to roll it out in stages. Big systems take time to change and implement.
It also makes the most sense to start the roll out with commonly used drugs and lower-income families. Families earning $100K+ don’t need immediate relief on drug costs, not the least of which because they likely already have private coverage from their employment.
A single-payer system will obviously be the best and most efficient, but a 5-year roll out (or whatever) is totally reasonable. Big change takes time, and that’s fine.
Diabetes is a condition that can even bankrupt people making $100K+ who think they have good medical insurance. Many diabetics reach their employer/pension medical insurance’s lifetime maximum and have to pay all costs out of pocket, which can be thousands of dollars a month.
Fair; I should have qualified the wet “most”.
I think the point stands, though; rolling it all out at once likely isn’t possible, so they should start with lower income families.
I think you need to consider it to be ultimately universal as a goal healthcare, as I worry you’re predisposed to consider any delay to be an abject failure and grounds for dismantling; see: healthcare.
It’s a big project for a number of people, so it needs to follow a priority awareness. You may not be in the first group supported, and that needs to be okay. Triage rules always apply, and it’s a great problem to have if you don’t get seen first.