P.E.I. pharmacare plan a test for national model: Federal health minister

Politicians and officials filled a Cornwall, P.E.I., pharmacy Tuesday as the federal health minister announced 61 medications had been added to the list of drugs covered by P.E.I.’s. pharmacare since December.

Jean-Yves Duclos says the program is a chance to test a model for country-wide drug coverage.

“There’s more work to do outside of P.E.I. on exactly the same issue,” said Duclos.

“Lots of drugs need to be more accessible, more affordable. When people don’t have drugs, they obviously cannot care for their health.”

The minority Liberals promised to draft pharmacare legislation in 2023, in exchange for NDP support.

“What I think is happening right now is the Liberals are realizing that the clock is ticking, and what they’re going to do is say to the NDP, ‘Okay, it’s a step, we have do to this carefully. We need to roll things out, test them, see how they work,’” said Don Desserud, a political scientist on P.E.I.

He says it’s something of a good-faith gesture while being a small commitment overall.

“Prince Edward Island is a great place to do that because it’s small enough that we can get a handle on things relatively quickly, but please take this as assurance that we are moving toward that goal. I think they’re pretty far away from it, but we’ll see whether the NDP think so as well,” said Desserud.

The Island’s pharmacists association says it is in favour of expanding the role pharmacists play in health care.

“I think pharmacists just need to be there to share our expertise and to share our perspective,” said Erin MacKenzie, executive director of the P.E.I. Pharmacists Association.

“There are some huge system issues that need to be addressed, and not one party is going to be able to fix that themselves. It’s going to take a team.”

She says using pharmacists, as part of a national pharmacare plan, could help lessen the health-care crisis.